Dragonheart
by CrazyFeralVigilanteDragonLady
Summary: When Hiccup was forced to desert Berk, he never expected to have to return to his home. Having found his mother during his travels and made some lifelong friends, the rogue dragon riders arrive on Berk to protect the island from an old enemy. But will the Vikings trust a man, even one of their own, who dared to befriend a dragon? Book one of the Dragonheart Trilogy.
1. There Were Five

**AN: ****_Kvetha, fricaya. _****So, yet another HTTYD fanfiction. Here's an overused idea! But I have a pretty good spin on it, I reckon. But, of course, I'm biased. What if Hiccup left before facing the Nightmare? But with some HTTYD 2 elements in it, and some unique OCs, I think this could make for a good story.**

**I don't own HTTYD. Just, you know, reminding you, in case you somehow got little old me confused for some big shot Hollywood director. Like.**

**(Am I the only one who really wants to know what would happen if we said we did own HTTYD? We don't, but what would happen if we said we did?)**

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**There were five**

There were five of them. Two of them were obviously female: one possibly in her late thirties, the other a teenager. Two of the males had dusky skin; they were strongly built and had the same metal band around their bicep. The last of them, in the centre, was tall and gangly. He was by no means muscular, but nor was he weak. His left leg ended halfway down his shin, replaced by a metal peg. All of them wore frightening masks; leather crafted into long spikes, horns, fangs and tusks. But the most fearsome thing of all was their mounts. Each was mounted on a dragon. The older woman was atop a huge amber beast with four wings. The two dark-skinned males had tamed a blue sea-dragon with two heads, the younger female was saddled on a dark red Grapple Grounder, and the other one, the one-legged one, was leaning casually against a beast that could only be a Night Fury.

Astrid looked closer at the one-legged man. He wasn't the oldest, or the strongest, but he radiated such an aura of power and authority that he could only be their leader. He wore a dark gray mask over his face, with a brown leather nose-guard studded with what must have been dragon fangs. Six long, curving spikes curled out of the top, each with uneven red-and-brown painted stripes around their circumference. There were slitted openings for his eyes, and below that, out of the sides of the mask, curved two spikes resembling mandibles, tipped with red that made them appear to be covered in blood. Around his neck was a tattered green scarf, and he had polished metal shoulder guards. A strong, sturdy brown leather jerkin covered his torso, and around his forearms were leather wraps and a swishing, worn length of fabric resembling wings that was tied on with sturdy leather straps. On his back were several spikes, much like a dragon's, and tattered fabric hung like a rough loincloth around his waist. His single boot was made of wrapped brown leather, and spikes protruded out of the back. His right arm was wrapped entirely in leather, while on his upper left arm, a swirling tattoo of a dragon was etched, which only added to his fearsome appearance. Shaggy auburn hair poured from the back of his head like water; almost the only sign that reassured Astrid that this man really was human.

"What do you want here, devils! Who are you, to have betrayed your people, and ride upon these beasts?" Stoick snarled, hand on his hammer.

The leader snorted. "Devils, indeed. They say the same about you. As to my name, I have been called many things. You would not believe me if I told you my name. Nor those of my companions. So, for conveniences' sake, we would prefer to remain nameless."

He spoke quietly, but his voice had a light tone to it, one that implied levity and humour. Astrid was bewildered.

"You still haven't answered us. What do you want?" the chief hissed vehemently.

"To protect you," the younger woman said simply.

"The dragon raids you suffered have abated, but that doesn't mean that your problems are over. Not long ago, the place where we lived was attacked, and our Alpha dragon killed by another of its kind. We barely escaped with our lives and our dragons. The attack was ordered by a man named Drago Bludvist, and we have reason to believe that Drago may come here and attack you. So, we have come to help."

Stoick had paled at mention of Drago, but he still responded angrily.

"You have no proof. Besides, we don't need your help anyway, you filthy traitors. I should kill you right now."

"I'm fairly sure you would regret it if you did, for more reasons than one," the teenage boy in the gray mask said. Astrid narrowed her eyes. He was hinting at something only he knew, and Astrid wanted to know it right away.

Stoick's face darkened.

"How dare you threaten us?" he roared furiously, and threw himself at the leader, pinning him to the ground. The Night Fury growled, but didn't attack. Then Stoick pulled out his hammer and raised it over the youth's head.

"Hiccup!" cried the younger woman, and threw herself at Stoick, who jerked backwards.

"_Hiccup?"_ he whispered.

Something in the stranger's voice changed, becoming lighter.

"Well, _thank you for that, _Idris," he said sarcastically. "There's not much point in this thing anymore, is there?"

And he pulled off his mask.

The crowd gasped. His face had matured slightly, but his eyes were still the same, that bright green. He smiled, that sarcastic smile everyone on Berk had come to despise before Hiccup had disappeared.

"Well, isn't this one big happy reunion?" he said.

"_Hiccup?" _Stoick said again. Hiccup sighed dramatically.

"Gobber," he called, waiting for the smith to emerge from the crowd. He untied his scarf and threw it to the smith. "If you would," the boy said. For some reason, he was keeping his head tilted to the left.

"Beard of Thor," Gobber drew in his breath. "It's from his old tunic. I remember this. Look, there's that patch I helped him sew on when he dropped a sword when he was thirteen, and he kept stabbing himself in the finger! It's really him!"

The crowd tittered, and Astrid shoved her way to the front.

"Hiccup? Where have you been?" she yelled.

o~0~O~0~o

_"Astrid! Go find Hiccup, he'll miss his fight!" Stoick bellowed. The sheildmaiden nodded and ran about the village, knocking on the door of the Haddock house. There was no answer. She shoved the door open, and found… no one. She yelled Hiccup's name up the stairs, and even plucked up the courage to go in his room. There, she found a sheet of paper with a ragged edge, like it had been torn from a book. She unfolded it._

I'm so sorry, _it read, _but I can't fight the Nightmare. I doubt you'll read this until tomorrow, it's not like Dad will notice my absence. Remember when I told you all in that last raid that I shot down the Night Fury? Well, I actually did, and I found him exactly where I thought he'd landed- in the woods off Raven Point. I went out there, I found him, and I didn't kill him. I tamed him. That's right- I tamed a dragon. They're not the mindless killers we thought they were, they're quite friendly when treated right. I discovered the location of the nest, but their queen, gods above, not a hundred of you, Dad, could beat her. But maybe- just maybe- one of me can. I have devised a Fiendishly Clever Plan, and have set out for the Nest. I've left you a map of how to get there. By the time you have, either the queen will be dead or I will be. Either way, I want you to know that you don't have to fight dragons any more. I've left some pages about how I tamed my Night Fury, and I hope you use them for the right purposes.

Dad- I want you to know I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused.

Gobber- I hid your tankard under my bed. Sorry.

Astrid- I'm sorry. I have to say it- I love you.

~Hiccup

_Astrid's eyes filled with tears. While Hiccup had a sense of humour, he wouldn't go this far. It was true. When Stoick flung open the door, bellowing for his son, Astrid wordlessly held out the note and watched as Stoick's face turned ash grey._

_Hiccup was gone._


	2. Sightless Eyes

**AN: ****_Hona pomnuria, skulblaka. _****Nice to see you. Here's a new chapter of Dragonheart-e****njoy!**

***yaawwwwn* I ****_still _****don't own HTTYD.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

**Sightless Eyes**

He turned to look at Astrid. For a second, so briefly she might have imagined it, his eyes filled with grief. Then he blinked, and it was gone. Stoick tentatively stepped forward, and slowly approached Hiccup. Then he placed his enormous hands on the boy's shoulders, looking into Hiccup's green eyes. The eyes that filled with remorse as he whispered;

"I missed you,"

And then a tear slid down his face as his father pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace.

"What happened to your leg?" Stoick murmured. Hiccup grimaced as he glanced at the metal contraption that replaced his left foot. It was a simple metal peg, with three wicked-looking spikes attached to the back of it.

"When I beat the dragon Queen, the Red Death. The fake tailfin-" he points at the red leather contraption on his dragon's tail, "burned off, and we nearly made it out. There was fire everywhere. But the Queen's tail…" he trailed off, clearly remembering. Astrid's hand flew to her mouth.

"We hit the tail, and my safety cord snapped. I don't know exactly what happened after that, but Toothless turned right around and caught me in his wings." His voice became more humorous. "But no, bud, you couldn't save all of me, no. So…" he lifted the foot. "Peg leg!"

Stoick looked at Hiccup one more time before turning to the village.

"A feast!" he declared. "To celebrate the return of my son!"

The girl, Idris, took off her mask and hung it from her belt. The two boys did the same. Hiccup stooped down, snatched up his own, then mimicked them. Only the woman was left with her dragon mask on.

"Everyone;" Hiccup said. "I would like you to meet my companions. Idris, Snorri," he pointed to the older of the two Seashocker riders, "Fiske," the younger male grinned impishly and held up a hand. "And Forsja," he finished. The older woman, who still retained her mask, nodded. Stoick's eyes narrowed at her dragon, but he still announced;

"These five dragons are not to be harmed! Leave them in peace, and give them fish! Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow we can discuss what to do about the threat."

o~0~O~0~o

Hiccup walked to the Mead Hall, glancing nervously over his shoulder every few moments, as if checking on his companions. Fiske was tapping an irregular beat on his leg; the young man just couldn't stay still. Snorri anxiously fiddled with his black hair as he walked. Idris walked very carefully, one foot directly in front of the other, like she was afraid that a knife might shoot out of the ground. Fiske stood right beside her, tapping incessantly. The woman, Forsja, was different. She still hadn't removed her mask, which was different to those of the others. It was more of a helmet, much less symmetrical than those of her companions. She, unlike her companions, was in full leather armour, and she hadn't yet said even a word. She carried a staff with hooked ends, while the other riders all held weapons of some description. The younger woman, Idris, was holding a long spear with a ragged blade the length of Astrid's forearm jutting from the top. The older boy, Snorri, had a bow strapped to his saddle and a quiver of arrows at his belt. Fiske had a single-headed axe with a long handle. Hiccup seemed to have no weapon, but there was a sword hilt in a loop at his waist.

The woman was very aloof, not even near the other riders. Astrid wondered why the woman was staying so distant. When Snorri kicked a pebble the woman spun, raising her staff, ready to brain someone. Why was she so jumpy?

Ahead, Stoick leaned over to Hiccup.

"Hiccup, son," he whispered. "I might, _might _be able to tolerate a few dragons as long as they stay out of the way. But that one;" he inclined his head to the huge four-winged one, "I don't know how long I can look at it without it losing its head. You might not have known, but that dragon is responsible for-"

Hiccup sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I was hoping that we could do this later… you've had enough shocks for one day. But Cloudjumper's rider…"

Hiccup pulled Stoick to the side, his feet tracing the path to the house. Despite the three years, he knew the way perfectly. He gestured to the woman, who flinched. She rattled her staff. Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"_Yes, _Forsja. We _are _telling him.

It was almost like… _gods above. _The woman was _talking _using the staff! She reluctantly followed Hiccup. Astrid narrowed her eyes. Hiccup he may be, but who knew how he had changed in three years? What if he attacked Stoick? She followed them, and when they entered the house she went around the back and climbed in through Hiccup's old bedroom window.

"Dad…" Hiccup said. "You might want to lose the hammer," he said. Astrid peered down the stairs. She could see five feet and a metal peg in front of the fire. There was a clunk as Stoick put down the hammer.

"Right. Now, I'm just going to wait over here…" he said, his foot vanishing from view. Then the woman's mask was placed on the ground, and Astrid heard the sharp intake of breath. There was a silence. A really long silence.

"Stoick…" an unfamiliar voice said. _Must be that woman's, _Astrid thought. "I know what you're going to say. Why didn't I come back? I… I thought Hiccup would be better off with you! I thought he'd be more Viking without me! How was I to know that he took after me?"

Astrid stared. Was the woman saying what Astrid thought she was saying? The blonde took a risk and stood lower down on the stairs, until she could see the whole scene. The woman's face came into view.

Long auburn braids. An angular face and a straight nose. And those eyes.

They were exactly like Hiccup's.

Astrid raced back up the stairs and leaped out the window. She did _not _want to intrude on the family reunion.

o~0~O~0~o

She fell back in with the group in the Mead Hall. The three remaining Dragon Riders were sitting awkwardly, given a wide berth. Other people were bringing in food to be cooked, or rounds of bread.

_Hiccup's mother! _As far as Astrid knew, she had been killed in a… dragon raid. Of course. She had survived, and _befriended _the dragons! Astrid made up her mind. She would have to talk to the riders about their past. Who knew how they had gotten into their situation? She quickly decided on Idris. She seemed the most kindred spirit of the riders. Astrid walked past the other young Vikings.

"Do you think they'll know how to teach a Zippleback to blow stuff up when you ask it to?" Tuffnut hissed. Astrid rolled her eyes and continued on, sitting beside Idris. The girl raised an eyebrow.

"You've got guts, you have," Idris said. "You're sitting beside one of the foul feral traitors. Careful, or I might breathe fire on you, or sprout wings and carry you away."

Wow. Her tongue was sharp.

"Huh. I think I'd be a little more freaked about the wings than the flying away. I'm Astrid," she responded. Idris smiled.

"Idris. Nice to meet you. Ugh. I feel so _awkward. _It's been four years since I've talked with anyone but the others. And now suddenly there are all these people. If it weren't for Hiccup, I wouldn't be here. Stormcleaver and I would be out flying."

They _named _their dragons?

"How did you meet up with Hiccup and the others?"

"Oh," Idris laughed. "Awkward story. My sister had managed to capture a Grapple Grounder, the first in out tribe to manage it. Grapple Grounders caused a lot of damage on my island. Anyway, they caged her up, and she was going to be killed in front of the village to open our harvesting festival. I got caught trying to release her. I mean, I wasn't a dragon-lover, but no animal should have to go through that. For a dragon to die on the ground, chained up… it's the worst kind of death. It's like how we Vikings consider dying of old age ignoble. If dragons die like that, they'd miss out on their version of Valhalla. So anyway, I got caught and they chained me up too. They stuck me in the cage. One thing they didn't think of, however, was taking my shoulder guards."

The guards in question were metal arches over her shoulders studded with long spikes.

"It took a while, but I managed to pick the locks on the Grapple Grounder's muzzle and wings. She grabbed me and blew up the cage. It was carnage. Vikings running everywhere. The Grapple Grounder flew away, and she was still carrying me in her claws. Eventually we crashed on some uninhabited island, and that's where Hiccup and Forsja found us. We helped them in their dragon sanctuary, until Drago attacked."

"So, what's up with this Drago Bludvist guy?" Astrid asked. Idris' face darkened.

"He's a madman. Hiccup tried reasoning with the guy and he nearly got killed. Sword to his throat and everything. Drago killed our Alpha."

Her eyes filled with tears. Obviously this 'Alpha' was important.

"It was horrible. When you spend a long time with an Alpha, you can almost _hear _him. Don't look at me like that! Anyway, it we could practically hear his voice, like the rest of our nest. When he died, we felt it too. Hiccup and Valk-" Her eyes widened. She'd slipped up.

"Shh. It's alright. I know Forsja is Valka, Hiccup's mother." Astrid soothed.

"How?" Idris asked.

"Ki-ind of followed them. But go on with the story," Astrid prompted.

"What was I saying? Oh, yeah. Hiccup and Valka are especially sensitive. Hiccup almost had a fit. It's a miracle he stayed on Toothless. Then Drago killed Sonja, and that was the last straw. We had to flee. But when Drago had Hiccup, he said something about attacking the islands, starting with Berserker Island, then Berk. We flew here right away."

"Who was Sonja?" Astrid questioned.

"She was the sixth Rider. She had a Timberjack, but Drago took her. He shot the two of them down."

Astrid shook her head.

"This Drago guy must be serious," she muttered.

"Oh, he is," Idris said, eyes wide. "He won't stop until he's the King of the Archipelago."

"Phew. Wow. But what stopped you guys from taking him on yourselves?" the blonde asked.

"Are you kidding?" Idris said in disbelief. "I don't know what he was like when you knew him, but Hiccup's a fair hand with Inferno… you know, the sword. And Drago almost killed him without even breaking a sweat! Fiske and Snorri together couldn't take him. Sonja was an amazing fighter, and Drago killed her. Valka hates fighting, and I… well, I have my infirmity, don't I?"

"What? Infirmity?"

Idris raised an eyebrow. "You didn't notice?"

Astrid shook her head. Idris smiled softly.

"Astrid, I'm blind. I have been for two years."

Astrid reeled.

"How do you know where you're going? How do you fight and stuff?"

"I've got really good hearing. Also, Hiccup, Fiske and I worked out a system. That tapping Fiske does? It tells me where to go. It's really helpful. And as for the fighting, I rarely leave Stormcleaver's back."

Astrid looked at Idris' eyes. Before, they had seemed to be a light blue-grey, but now that she looked closely she could see that they weren't quite focused. They were more of a pale, milky blue, and she didn't blink. It was quite an eerie effect, and Astrid shivered.

Two men, his mother and a blind girl. Hiccup certainly had the strangest of companions.


	3. A Big Mental Axe

**AN: ****_Howdeedoodeethere, mi friundlees. _****I'm putting a little bit of cutesie in this chapter, and I've included a few details from one of the most ADORABLE deleted scenes in HTTYD; 'An Axe to Grind'. I thought that this scene was hilarious, because I've done something really similar and I know exactly what was going through Hiccup's head. (obviously, there were no axes involved xD) So I just HAD to include it. It was too cute.**

**I just wanted to respond to Kitty Art, one of my guest reviewers;**

**Yeah, hun, so, so subtle. He is amazingly subtle. He is the sultan of subtle. Also, I'm cutting down on the flashbacks now, and it's staying fully in Astrid's POV. I rewrote chapter two to fit. And you'll be happy now; I've written up to chapter eight now, so you'll have your new chapters~**

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

**A Big Mental Axe**

The feast was hectic. Halfway through, Stoick burst into the hall and announced Valka's return as well as Hiccup's, and that was the end of the sanity. _Two_Vikings who had been lost, both returning? And both of them the family of the chief? When Vikings celebrate, they don't do it by half measures. Idris stayed on her bench all night, feet tucked in, avoiding the wildly dancing Berkians. Fishlegs plucked up the courage to talk to Snorri, and was asking questions about dragons.

"So, your dragon's a Seashocker, right? How does it fly? It's got sea wings, not sky wings."

"Thunder and Lightning are special. They have double-jointed wings, so while they're not the fastest fliers, they can flap their wings to an extent. The fact that they can fly _and_swim makes up for their lack of speed."

Astrid was slightly ashamed to admit she had a few drinks herself. At one point she was pretty sure she danced with Tuffnut, which was gross, and late in the evening she ended up hiding in a corner, trying to ward off a pounding headache. She looked up as someone joined her. Hiccup.

"Drink some water, then try and throw it all up," he suggested. He offered an arm for her to balance on as she staggered outside, and found a tankard of water for her to drink. It took a while, but soon Astrid managed to throw up the mead, while Hiccup looked the other way.

"Thanks," she said, her headache abating slightly. She focused more on Hiccup. In the three years he had been gone, he had become kind of… _handsome._His hair still the crazy mess it had been, but less of an I_-just-got-attacked-by-a-dragon _look than an _I-just-woke-up-and-I-still-look-awesome_ look. It had darkened slightly as well. His freckles were fading, and his jawline had straightened out a little.

Astrid beat back her thinking with a big mental axe. This was _Hiccup,_for Odin's sake! It had been generally accepted for the last two years that she would marry Snotlout, whom she found absolutely repulsive. Besides, Snotlout had developed a crazy crush on Ruffnut instead, and had been competing with Fishlegs for the twin's hand.

"Are you alright?"

Hiccup's voice jolted her from her thoughts.

"Ugh, I'm alright, I suppose…" she got out. Hiccup took one look at her and shook his head.

"See, this is why I don't drink mead. You should probably lie down. You will have the _worst_headache in the morning."

Astrid nodded. Home it was. She took a few steps before her legs twisted underneath her. Then she felt someone scoop her up. Wow. Hiccup was _carrying_her. Three years as a crazy, feral vigilante dragon man had done wonders for his strength. He walked through the village, thoughtfully avoiding being spotted by the few Vikings not in the Mead Hall, and soon found her house. He let Astrid find her feet, and opened the door for her, mock bowing.

"Here you go, milady," he said, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards and his lively green eyes sparkling in amusement. Astrid smiled weakly back and staggered into the house, barely managing to fall into her bed.

o~0~O~0~o

Astrid opened her eyes, and instantly realised she had the worst headache she'd had in her life. Gods above, it was like someone was wringing out her skull. She staggered to her feet, scrabbled around for her boots, which someone must have removed for her (or had she taken them off herself? She honestly couldn't remember) and took about two minutes before she realised that she was trying to put a helmet on her foot rather than a boot. Swearing angrily, she managed to find her boots and put them on. Deciding it would be in her best interests _not_to carry around an axe when she was barely conscious, Astrid left it beside her bed and exited the house, wincing at the bright sunlight. She walked through the village, finally finding the Mead Hall. She pushed open the doors and peered inside. Sure enough, the dragon riders were all asleep inside, except for Hiccup and Valka. Even the dragons were in the Hall, draping their titanic wings over their riders. The Grapple Grounder, Stormcleaver, cooed at Astrid as she passed, and Astrid jumped as she heard a voice say;

"Hey, Astrid."

She spun to see Idris' face turned in her direction. The rider's pale eyes were open, and gleaming in the light streaming through the open doors. Stormcleaver let out a draconic purr and Idris scratched under her chin. Astrid carefully sat down beside them, careful not to touch the dragon's scales.

"Morning," she said, faking passiveness. Idris laughed.

"You drank a bit much, didn't you,"

Astrid nodded miserably. How Gobber did it, she would never know. The smith had guzzled down twice the amount Astrid had, and he had been completely fine.

"Where's Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"Your chief insisted that he sleep in his own house. I'm pretty sure Stoick spent the whole night staring at Hiccup and Valka. But I think Hiccup might be in the forge now. He never sleeps well. From what I've heard, he spends most of the night trying _not_to sleep."

Astrid stood up unsteadily, and Idris caught her arm.

"Astrid," she said. "Tread carefully around Hiccup. I know what he left in that letter, and it still holds true. Even Sonja couldn't stop that. Watch your step; I will personally step on your face if you mess him around anymore. His life is tangled enough as it is."

What? Astrid was _not_in love with Hiccup. What would make Idris think that? Astrid had nothing to worry about. But then she looked into Idris' pale eyes and in that moment knew it was completely true. Idris would not hesitate to beat Astrid to Valhalla to help her friends. Whether she was blind or not, Astrid took the threat seriously, but nodded and thanked Idris before leaving the hall. Sure enough, there was the sound of grinding from the forge. The Night Fury dozing outside was a bit of a telltale sign whom was in there. She walked in, knocking on the wooden doorframe. Hiccup turned and smiled.

"Let me guess; you have a headache," he smirked, looking up from the axe he was sharpening. Astrid rolled her eyes, the movement sending lances of pain through her head..

"Yes, genius. I drank mead, I got a headache."

"What a surprise. I did not expect that at all."

"Quiet, you," she said, slugging him on the shoulder, straight on the face of the tattooed dragon. Hiccup winced and rubbed his arm.

"It's always violence with you, isn't it." he muttered.

"It's not violence, it's communication," she said brightly, stepping in to see the axe Hiccup was working on. It had two blades connected to the handle, and there were extra metal supports on the centre of the blades. A round metal ball tipped off the haft. Hiccup lifted it away from the grindstone, apparently satisfied, and walked to a shelf, pulling down a box of leather. He rifled through until he found a few long straps and wound them around the axe handle in two places, just below the head and near the end. Some dyed fabric strips were wrapped around the axe head, and for good measure, he padded the lower grip with a thin layer of fur, before picking it up in two hands, weighing the weapon. He made a few swipes in mid air with it before frowning.

"It's too front-heavy…" he muttered, dissatisfied.

"Try something on the end of the handle," Astrid suggested. Hiccup looked at her sharply, then his eyes lit up. He strode outside and opened the Night Fury's saddlebags, digging through. The dragon lifted its head sleepily, then its eyes focused on Astrid and it growled.

"Whoa, Toothless. Calm down. Astrid's a friend," Hiccup soothed.

"_Toothless_?" Astrid asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah… don't worry about that. Ah, here it is!"

He had pulled out a stone of some description. Smiling, he walked back into the forge and placed it on a table, then pulled an awl off of a wall. Lining up the point with the centre of the stone, he hit the end sharply with a hammer, and the awl was driven into the stone. Eventually the stone had a large hole in it, and Hiccup slid it onto the end of the axe handle. He lifted it again and grinned.

"Perfect," he said, then turned to face Astrid.

"Here," he said. She squinted at the axe, and checked twice that she wasn't about to grab the blade rather than the handle. "I figure the other one's a bit too worn. I didn't design it to last this long,"

"What?" Astrid said, lifting her head from her new axe. "You made my old axe?"

_I thought it was my mother's,_she thought.

He winced. "Technically your mother got it from a trader way back when, but… erm… you brought it to me to sharpen one time and it broke. I replaced the axe head with one of the ones I made..."

Astrid gave him the fiercest glare she could. _You broke my axe,_she thought furiously.

"Anyway, careful of the edge on that axe. It's really thin, but really sharp. It'll get chipped easily, but it could cut a hair draped across the blade." Hiccup carried on, clearly hoping to avoid a punch on the arm.

Astrid looked closer at the stone on the end. It was shaped like the skull clips she used to hold her shoulder guards on. She narrowed her eyes. To carve the skull would have taken a long time, which meant he had made it before even thinking of the axe. Which therefore meant he had used it as a memento.

_It really was true,_Astrid thought. _This is going to be awkward._

Hiccup was dampening the forge. He turned to Astrid.

"There's one other thing I've been meaning to do," he told her. "I need to go to the arena. Want to come with?"

She followed him, and walked through the village to the clifftop arena. At one point Hiccup's metal leg got stuck between two rocks and he pitched forwards. Astrid grabbed the back of his jerkin and part of his scarf, pulling him back upright. The scarf pulled loose, and Hiccup made a grab for it. Astrid held it out before snatching it back.

"Great Odin's ghost," she swore. "Hiccup, what in Thor's name is _that_?"

There was a long, livid scar across the left side of his neck. He snatched the scarf from Astrid's hand and made to tie it back on.

"It's nothing," he stammered. Astrid glared at him and he slumped.

"Drago," he admitted. "I disobeyed Mom, I tried to talk him down and I nearly got killed."

"Hiccup, was that treated properly? Wounds like that can kill if they get the wound sickness!" All aversion to Hiccup aside, she would _not_want to see Stoick's reaction if his son died from wound sickness so soon after returning.

"It's fine! Mom took care of it." His expression was defensive now. There was a short silence while Astrid thought. Then she spoke up.

"You know, my aunt Phlegma once said something. She said that scars always meant something to their owners. What does that one mean to you?"

"It's a lesson." Hiccup admitted. "It reminds me that not everyone can be reasoned with."

"What, and go in axes swinging?" Astrid responded. "No, Hiccup, that's not what it should mean to you."

Astrid had no idea why this was so important to get across.

"It should tell you that people _can_be reasoned with. But you need to know when there's no point. Like when you used to talk with Gobber, you could get him to pretend he was a cod if you wanted. But this Drago sounds like the kind of man whose policy is Axe First, Ask Later. Or maybe it's just Axe. I don't know. But always, _always_remember; don't let yourself be pushed around. If you don't do it, then I will find this Drago and axe him for you. What he's done is inexcusable."

And then she stopped. The look on Hiccup's face was one of sadness and wonder.

"It's inexcusable. This… _Alpha_of yours, he sounds like he was one of your only friends. Make Drago pay for taking him. You have precious little friends anyway,"

He looked at her and whispered;

"Can I count you among them?"

Astrid was touched. Despite everything; all the threats, the cold shoulders, the insults and the rudeness, Hiccup was still willing to trust her. To trust everyone. It hit her then; Hiccup could have left every Viking in the Archipelago to die. He could have flown to the edge of the world on his dragon, and let Berk burn. But he had returned, to help the people who had given him nothing but fourteen years of solid dislike, taunting and ignoring.

"Yes," Astrid whispered back, grabbing his hands. "Yes, you can count me as a friend."**  
><strong>


	4. Crowd Control

**AN: Not much to say here, folks. ****_Toodlooseeyousoon..._**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

**Crowd Control**

The smile that crossed Hiccup's face could melt the heart of a god. It was so simply happy, like her deciding to be his friend was the only thing in the Nine Realms he had ever wanted. He tied his scarf back on and Astrid stared at the ground as they continued to the arena, the corners of her mouth twitching at how awkward Hiccup's version of 'spring in his step' was. _Step, clunk, step, clunk, stumble step clunk. _

When they reached the arena, Hiccup pulled an axe off the wall and wedged open the gate. He looked apologetically at Astrid.

"I'm fairly sure I can't lift the gate yet. Better to be safe than sorry," he told her, sliding under the gap in the gate. He looked at the cages of dragons, and walked purposefully towards the Nadder cage.

"Wait," Astrid stopped him. "You're just going to let out the dragons?"

He made a face.

"I can't release them, because I'll probably be executed. But I can give them a bit of attention. Stand back, and for Odin's sake put down that axe."

He opened the gate and Astrid ducked as a hail of spines shot from the entrance.

"Ow," Hiccup muttered, and pulled a spine out of his jerkin. He pulled the sword hilt from his belt and flicked it, and suddenly there was fire pouring from the guard. Astrid goggled as he moved the blade in circles carefully, and the Nadder's head followed him. Then he flicked the blade again, and the fire went out. His hand went to his ankle; there was a small pouch under the green wraps. He pulled a small object from it and slid it into the side of the sword; another one fell to the ground. Astrid stepped forwards and picked it up just as Hiccup spun the sword in a circle around him, green gas pouring from the sword hilt.

"Darn," she swore as Hiccup, oblivious, sparked the gas. Astrid was hurled a few feet backwards, landing gracefully on her rear end. Hiccup then stepped cautiously forwards, hand extended.

And the Nadder made a purring sound and let him touch it.

"Gods above;" Astrid murmured. Hiccup scratched it around its horns, and a hand moved to under its jaw. It slumped, purring happily, on the ground.

"You want a turn?" Hiccup said, giving her a goofy smile. Astrid stood up and stepped cautiously forward, really wishing she still had that axe. The Nadder opened one eye and growled warningly, but Hiccup rattled the sword hilt against the ground and made soothing noises.

"Just give her a scratch," he told her. Astrid gingerly touched the rough scales, and was shocked when the Nadder rumbled even louder in contentment. Hiccup smiled.

"She likes you," he said.

"Likes me?" Astrid said, exasperated. "She probably likes the amount of edible human I offer."

Great. Astrid was referring to the dragon as a she. Just wonderful.

"Are you kidding?" he said in disbelief. "The only dragons that eat people are dragons that are starving to death. If you feed these guys properly, you should have no problem."

Astrid relaxed slightly, and rubbed the Nadder's scaly head.

"You know, if you ever change your mind about dragon riding, this Nadder is the one for you." Hiccup said cautiously. Astrid laughed at the stupidity of the idea.

"Yeah, I'll see a dragon-mountain before I'd ride a Nadder." she responded. Hiccup winced and rubbed his leg.

"With this Drago threat, you'll see the dragon-mountain a lot sooner than you would expect,"

"What, has he got one?"

"Astrid, the original Alpha dragons- the Deaths, the Bewilderbeasts and the Dreadwings- are enormous. Did you think I lost my leg fighting a Terrible Terror? Drago's Bewilderbeast could step on you, me, Dad, Mom _and _Spitelout and not notice a thing, even if we all held swords straight up in the air for it to stand on."

"Oh," Astrid said. "Now suddenly the magnitude of this problem rises. We should probably go to that meeting thing they're holding about it. I get the feeling they might need to know this."

o~0~O~0~o

The dragons had been put outside the hall and were not happy about it. Hiccup scratched Stormcleaver's horns and followed Astrid. When she pushed open the doors of the Mead Hall, Stoick was shouting. So was every other Viking in the hall. Mulch was yelling at Spitelout, Valka was trying to be heard over the din, Idris had her hands over her ears. Bucket was a whisker away from an all-out brawl with Hoark, and Mildew was whingeing in the crowd. Hiccup shook his head.

He pulled out Inferno- gods, now the name made sense- and with one fluid movement jumped up onto the metal brazier in the centre of the hall, lit the sword and bellowed "QUIET!"

The hall fell silent. Standing there, smeared with the soot from the forge, the terrifying mask at his belt and holding a flaming sword, Hiccup was quite the image. Astrid saw Idris smile slightly at the other side of the hall; though she couldn't see it, she sure as Hel could imagine it. Hiccup extinguished the sword and began talking.

"You're all missing the point. If it was just Drago we had to worry about, then this wouldn't be a problem. But he has a Bewilderbeast on his side. That thing is so big that if it stood on the Mead Hall it would wonder whose toes it had trodden on. The Bewilderbeast has ice breath too- it could freeze us all with a sneeze! We came to you because you have two important things- time and a close proximity to Dragon Island."

"Are you saying…" Stoick began. He was clearly a bit thunderstruck at the authority Hiccup was commanding.

"Yes, I am. I want you to train dragons."

There was uproar.

"Train dragons?"

"We won't even touch those devils!"

Hiccup lit Inferno again. Talk about crowd control.

"It's train dragons or die. Besides, not all of you have to. We only need a few more riders. We have an idea that might work. We have to strike in two places at once- Vikings on foot will take on the armada while the dragons take on the Bewilderbeast. Who's with me?"

For a moment there was an awkward silence, then Snotlout, of all people, stepped forwards.

"You're going to get us all killed, but it's better to go out with a bang. I'll train a dragon."

The twins then joined him.

"We can blow up even more stuff with dragons;" Ruffnut announced. Hiccup smiled.

Gustav Larsson, the miniature Snotlout, joined them. "If Snotlout's getting a dragon, then so will I,"

Fishlegs and Gobber fell in.

"May as well," Gobber told his apprentice. "I taught you for fourteen years; now it's your turn."

Then, to her surprise, Astrid stepped into the circle.

"I can do better," she called. "I already know where my dragon is."

Hiccup gave her a lopsided grin, and the other dragon riders fell in.

"This is what we need to do to survive. Without dragons, we may as well all walk off of a cliff now." Snorri said.

"Stoick!" hissed Spitelout. "How can we trust the devils? What happens if they kill our warriors?"

Idris let out a sound akin to a snarl.

"How can we trust them, you say? Toothless saved Hiccup from dying when he could have escaped. Thunder and Lightning have protected us every day. Cloudjumper has kept Valka alive for seventeen years! And there's never a day where Stormcleaver hasn't helped me. My dragon has a rider who is fatally vulnerable. I've been blind for two years, and not once in that time has Stormcleaver done _anything _that has hindered me at all. So if we can't trust the dragons, we can't trust anyone."

o~0~O~0~o

"This feels so backward," Hiccup muttered. Gobber opened the gate to the arena and they all strode in.

"Alright," he told the group. "Astrid's already laid her claim to the Nadder. That leaves us with a Nightmare, a Zippleback and a Gronckle."

"And two Terrors," Fishlegs chimed in helpfully. Hiccup looked at him.

"Short of babies, no-one can ride a Terror. Anyway, I want you all to stand back while I show the dragons that we mean no harm."

"With a needlessly showy display involving lots of fire;" Astrid interjected.

"Thank you for summing that up. Stand back," Hiccup drew Inferno, opened the doors and ducked under the blast from the Gronckle. One by one, the three dragons flopped, purring, at his feet. He thought for a moment.

"Snotlout," he said. "This one's yours," He pointed to the Nightmare.

"Awesome," Snotlout said. "The best dragon for the best Viking."

Astrid punched him.

"Ow! What is it with you and violence?"

"It's not violence, it's communication!"

"Guys! Focus!" Hiccup grabbed Snotlout's hand.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Snotlout tried to tug his hand away, but Hiccup's grip was like iron.

"Calm down. He won't hurt you,"

He placed Snotlout's hand on the Nightmare's snout.

"Oh my gods," Snotlout laughed nervously. "Are you seeing this? I'm touching a dragon!"

Hiccup carefully assigned the Gronckle to Fishlegs, and the Zippleback to the twins.

"What? Why don't we get our own dragon?" Tuffnut whined.

"Because," Snorri said, "you're twins. You work best when you work together; and with a Zippleback, the two of you can always be close enough to collaborate."

"It's like riding Thunder and Lightning," Fiske told them. "We each command one head. Thunder's my mate," he petted the dragon.

"Alright," Hiccup turned to where Gobber and Gustav were standing. "I'm thinking a Hobblegrunt for Gobber… and maybe another Nightmare for Gustav. Let's go to Dragon Island and find the Hobblegrunt and Nightmare. Mom, can you stay here and help those guys with their dragons. Gobber, you fly with me. Gustav, with Idris."

Hiccup climbed onto Toothless and held out his hand to help Gobber on.

"Right, devil," the smith muttered darkly. "One false move, and I swear…"

"Gobber!" Hiccup exclaimed, exasperated. "Right, this isn't going to work. Everyone, follow me."

The ragtag group of Vikings and dragons trailed after Hiccup, stopping at a cliff edge into the ocean.

"Gobber, watch carefully," Hiccup said, and stepped backward off of the cliff.

"Hiccup!" yelled Gobber and Astrid simultaneously. Then Toothless screeched and threw himself after the boy, and before long the duo had flown back up and landed on the cliff.

"_That_ is what it means to trust a dragon. Gobber, you saw that. Toothless could all too easily have let me become a dinner for fish, but he didn't. Trust your dragon like you would a sword brother or…" he faltered. "…sister. They'll always have your back, and you should always…" he faltered again and shook his head as if to clear it, "have theirs."

Valka was making a sympathetic face, and Idris' sightless eyes were watery. Astrid wondered what that was about.

"Now," Hiccup said. Gobber narrowed his eyes. It seemed that alone in the group, Gobber could sense that something was wrong.

"Let's try again. Gobber, Gustav, on the dragons."

He made to climb onto Toothless, but Gobber caught his arm.

"Hiccup, don't play dumb with me. What's wrong?" he asked tactlessly.

"It's-it's nothing. Don't worry about it." Hiccup brushed Gobber off and slid into Toothless' saddle, Stoick mounting behind him. Astrid watched as they flew towards Helheim's Gate, where the dragon raids had swarmed from for so long.

Now that she thought about it, that raid where Hiccup had claimed to have shot down the Night Fury had been the last serious raid for… forever. Every raid after that had resulted in nothing more than a few burn wounds and one death when someone had been trapped in a burning house. And the dragons never got away with more than a net of fish, a few sheep or a yak. Of course. Hiccup had defeated the dragon Queen, and the new raids had been faked by _Hiccup's dragons. _Gods. Now Astrid felt even more horrible. The number of dragons that had been killed by Berk's Vikings; every single one had probably been Hiccup's personal friend. Even when he had left, Hiccup was thinking of Berk's safety. If it had become known that Berk had been spared from the dragon raids, Vikings from all over would have been warring for the secret. Berk would have been torn apart. By faking the raids, Hiccup had helped them… and they had repaid him with mountains of the bodies of his friends.

Astrid shook her head. Valka was talking to the young Vikings left behind. She should probably start listening.


	5. Riding The Storm

**AN: Whoa. For so****meone who's been romantically defunct all her life, I was heavy on the fluff in this chapter. **

**And I have made dung biscuits from the Ten Fanfiction Commandments. What happened to not using the ANs for rambling?**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

**Riding the Storm**

When Hiccup returned, there was a long scratch on his cheek. Behind him, Gobber was mounted on a Hobblegrunt and Gustav was petting a violet Nightmare. Stoick strode towards them out of the village.

"On the upside, we found all the dragons we needed," Hiccup announced. "But on the downside… ugh. As if our problems could get any worse,"

"What happened?" Astrid asked. Hiccup scowled.

"An Outcast boat spotted us. Toothless is pretty unmistakeable. They'll be swinging for the whole of Berk now; they saw Gobber too."

Gobber was scratching the Hobblegrunt's snout. He glowered at Hiccup.

"Spotted is an understatement. You nearly got killed."

"Again," Fiske interjected cheekily. Stoick shot Hiccup a sharp look.

"Seriously, I was fine. It was only a small bola. And Toothless wouldn't let a puny Outcast shoot him down." At this point he struck a ridiculous pose. "He's reserved for me!"

Snorri laughed.

"Besides, you don't mess with a Night Fury and a Viking with a fire sword. Anyway, Astrid, how did you go with the Nadder?"

It was Astrid's turn to scowl.

"Everything's fine; except for the riding part. I just can't do it. It's a _dragon, _for Thor's sake!"

"Astrid?" Gobber said in astonishment. "Surely if _I _can ride a dragon, _you _can."

Astrid turned to Hiccup.

"Guess the bola thing must have really changed his view on dragons," she murmured. Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"I was lying before. It wasn't such a small bola; I just have a healthy sense of self-preservation when my parents are around. Mom would probably whack me with her staff for being 'careless'"

He rolled his eyes.

"So, with your Nadder, you say you can't fly a dragon?"

Astrid nodded mutely.

"Then why don't you let someone else fly it for you? Hop on,"

He held out a hand, and Astrid flinched.

"I don't know…" she stuttered. "I mean, it's a dragon. They kill people. People kill dragons. That's the way it goes. You're one thing, you always have been, but me?"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"What, the fearless Astrid Hofferson doesn't want to ride a dragon?" he questioned. She glared at him, and slapped his offered hand before climbing gingerly into the saddle behind him.

"Don't let me think about it for too long, do it fast," she muttered.

"Toothless, up, _gently,_" Hiccup told the dragon. It climbed to its feet and spread its wings before sweeping them down and hurtling skywards. Astrid yelped in fear and grabbed Hiccup around the waist.

"Toothless!" Hiccup said, outraged. "I said _gently! TOOTHLESS!_"

The dragon promptly began spinning in circles. Astrid screamed even louder.

"And now, the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile," Hiccup deadpanned, before there was a scrape of metal on metal and his metal leg skidded off of the stirrup. He grabbed the saddle and held on tight, managing to slip the prosthetic back in again. Toothless was still spinning like a maniac. Astrid could hear Stoick's shocked yell from below.

"HICCUP!" he bellowed.

"Yeah yeah… I'm on it, Dad…" Hiccup muttered, waving a hand in front of Toothless' face. The dragon ignored him completely.

"Alright! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing!" Astrid cried. Abruptly Toothless halted and started peacefully gliding, high above the village. She opened her eyes cautiously, and gasped at the view.

"Wow…" she murmured. Once you got past the fear-of-imminent-death-by-dragon, it was actually quite peaceful. She lifted a hand and felt it brush the fluffy snow-clouds, and laughed, waving both hands in the fluffy white.

"Thank the gods," Hiccup groaned, slumping in relief.

"You're right," she admitted. "He's amazing… _you're _amazing…"

And then Astrid realised that she had wrapped her arms around Hiccup's waist; but she didn't let go.

o~0~O~0~o

Toothless landed gently outside the arena. Hiccup had barely dismounted before he got a face full of ginger beard. The owner of the beard was furious.

"Hiccup!" Stoick raged. "Having Vikings ride dragons is bad enough without your disobedient _Toothless _trying to kill our warriors!"

"Dad, seriously…" Hiccup began, but then fell silent. Astrid groaned mentally. Hiccup could confront a murderous dragon lord, could leap off cliffs and stand unafraid in front of an arena full of dragons, but when it came to his father, he might as well still be fourteen.

"Either you learn to control that thing or we control it for you! You're the one who convinced us to train these infernal beasts in the first place; you're not a very good example! You're seventeen; act it!"

It was firing up to be one of the famous Haddock arguments, and it was following the exact patterns laid out more than twelve years ago. Hiccup, despite the fact he could probably hold his own against Stoick if he absolutely had to, was shrinking beneath his father's fury. Valka's face was shocked; no doubt Hiccup had told her about the Haddock arguments, but here was one right before her face. Snorri and Fiske were looking at each other, surreptitiously gripping their weapons. Idris' face was downcast, her shoulders hunched against the onslaught of noise. Astrid remembered what Idris had said about relying on sound to guide her; it must have been utterly awful for her. Fiske, seeing her, drummed a rhythm on his axe haft, and she relaxed slightly.

"Hiccup, you need to learn to have some authority! Did you not learn that after so many raids? You left more damage behind you than that dragon!" Stoick gestured forcefully at Toothless, who growled. "Son, I don't-"

And then Hiccup surprised them all.

"Dad," Hiccup interrupted. Stoick stopped, dumbfounded. "I get that Toothless was a bit crazy there, but have I not proven that I'm trying to help? The raids are behind us! What do I have to do to prove that? Lose another foot? An arm? Maybe if I get myself killed trying to beat Drago and his Beast from Hel I'll be considered enough of a Hero to be a proper Viking? I don't care what happened three years ago; I'm willing to put that all behind me. But I can't if you keep dragging it up."

His eyes were wet, and he swung himself back into Toothless' saddle and flew away, angling towards Raven Point.

"Thor almighty," Stoick murmured, and Valka shook herself out of her shock, strode up and gave him a good hit with her staff.

"What were you thinking?" she cried. Astrid watched for a second before running back into the arena. She woke the Nadder, which was snoozing, and grabbed the rope again and looped it around her waist. Astrid breathed deeply. She could do this. If Hiccup, of all people, could, there was no reason she couldn't. Set, she climbed up the Nadder's scaly leg and settled into the hollow at the base of its neck. The Nadder twisted its head to look at her.

"Come on, girl. We need to find Hiccup." Astrid coaxed. The Nadder tilted its head.

"Hiccup," Astrid repeated, and mimed Hiccup's hand-out dragon taming posture. The Nadder seemed to understand, because it spread its long, dappled wings and charged out of the arena gate. It threw itself skywards, and Astrid gasped.

"Great Odin's ghost, this is it," she swore, terrified. The Nadder let out a gurgling chirp, and Astrid looked up just as they plunged into a thick bank of clouds.

It was like flying through a snowstorm. Cold wet streaks hit Astrid like arrows, and she ducked behind the Nadder's rough neck. The dragon skilfully ducked and weaved, flying through the storm, and emerged on the other side crowing victoriously.

"That's what I'll call you," Astrid decided. "Stormfly."

Stormfly crowed even louder. She seemed to like the name. Then she started sniffing deeply, and angled towards Raven Point, following Hiccup's trail.

They found him in a rather beautiful cove. He was flopped against Toothless' broad side and poking at the dirt with a stick. Stormfly landed, screeching happily, as if to say "I found it! I found it!" The Nadder stomped over to Hiccup and prodded him gently with a toe.

Hiccup smiled weakly.

"Not a toy, no. Please don't- ack!"

The Nadder had swept Hiccup between its feet and settled down like a mother bird on her eggs. Astrid fought back a laugh. Toothless screeched angrily.

"Stormfly," she said sternly. "Let him go."

Stormfly just stared back impudently. Hiccup's muffled voice drifted from beneath the huge reptile.

"Ugh. Never take a toy away from a dragon." he groaned. Toothless stormed up to the Nadder and roared in its face. Stormfly shrunk away and gingerly released a bedraggled Hiccup, who muttered a few words in a language Astrid didn't recognise, then dragged himself to his feet.

"Stormfly, nice name." he told Astrid, and slumped back beside his satisfied Night Fury, who was purring as if to say _"I bested the terrible monster that took my Hiccup. Fish please."_

Astrid cautiously approached Hiccup and sat down beside him.

"Hiccup…" she began. He lifted one eyelid slightly.

"You called, milady?" he drawled good-naturedly. Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you baby. I…" she trailed off. Tact and Sensitivity were NOT her strong points.

"Let me guess; my mother sent you to see if I was alright," Hiccup muttered. Astrid bristled.

"No, _I _sent me to see if you're alright," she said to him angrily.

"In that case… I am completely fine."

Astrid softened.

"Hiccup, don't be an idiot. I know you're not fine. Just because I ignored you for fourteen years doesn't mean I ignored you."

Hiccup lifted his head to look at her.

"That makes no sense," he said.

"No. No it doesn't. But then, neither does any of this. Vikings riding dragons?"

"I know," Hiccup scowled. "Three hundred years and I'm the first Viking that couldn't kill a dragon. _I _brought this war on us; it's my fault Drago found the Sanctuary. Without the Sanctuary dragons, he wouldn't have enough power to take the islands. It's my fault."

"No, Hiccup," protested Astrid. "It's not. That's ridiculous. By the sounds of it, Drago was going to attack the islands anyway. If you didn't try and step in, then Drago would have probably killed all of _you _when you tried to stand up to him alone, and the islands would have no-one to protect them. Don't blame yourself, Hiccup."

It was then that Astrid saw just how badly the fourteen years on Berk had affected Hiccup. No matter where he turned, there were people telling him _how _he'd messed up, _where _he'd messed up, _what _he had messed up and how if he was more Viking he wouldn't have done it.

A line came back to her.

_"Where did Hiccup go wrong today?"_

_ "He's _never _where he should be."_

And now, how much she _hated _the person who had said that, with the poor boy, dripping wet, _in the room,_ almost right beside them. And it was now that she realized how cold-hearted she was. In the end, it hadn't been her prickly personality, or her excessive 'communication', that had scared her suitors off; it had been pure cold-heartedness. Yet the one person whom she spat her venom at the most was the one person who had never stopped loving her. Hiccup looked past her shields and found the girl who hid inside; and he had always sought to bring her out.

And just like that, the barriers fell to pieces, and Astrid reached out, grabbed the front of Hiccup's jerkin and pulled him into a kiss.

For barely a second his green eyes were wide; then she felt the contentment emanating through his whole being and he kissed back.


	6. The Amazing Art of Kidnapping

**AN: As for the 'darn' in there, Fishlegs says "Now you just hang on one darn second," to Snotlout in Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon, ergo I can use 'darn'. Thank the gods; I was stumped for ideas for curses. A while down, when Toothless is carrying Hiccup, Astrid and Fiske, I figured that Astrid and Fiske together couldn't weigh more than Stoick, and Toothless has carried Stoick and Hiccup at the same time before, so there.**

**Chapter Six**

**The Amazing Art of Kidnapping**

It seemed to last both forever and barely a second. The dragons, who were apparently more tactful then Astrid, had turned their backs. Probably laughing to each other.

When it was done, Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"So, how long has this been coming on?" he laughed.

Astrid punched him. Again.

"Don't spoil it, it was a nice moment," she said, and stretched. Then Toothless stumped over and seemed to decide that the pair needed a demonstration in Dragon Love, and knocked both Vikings backwards, proceeding to lick their faces.

"Toothless!" Hiccup groaned, trying to fend off the Night Fury. "You _know _this doesn't wash out!"

Astrid cringed. When the Night Fury finally stopped, rumbling with amusement, she wiped as much dragon spit off of her face as possible.

"That's disgusting," she moaned, flicking her hands to get the drops of fishy disgustingness off. Hiccup stood up.

"Bad dragon," he said, holding back a smile. "No licking unless I say so."

Toothless just looked at him.

"Wow," Astrid smirked. "I thought you were the only person who could pull off a deadpan face to go with the deadpan comments."

"Yep, that's Toothless for you. Anyway, I'd better feed this oversized salamander, or he'll start blowing up important things, like me."

Hiccup motioned for Astrid to follow. Stormfly and Toothless stumped to the lakeside.

"You haven't seen anything until you've seen a dragon hunt," he told her. He climbed into Toothless' saddle, and the two dragons lifted into flight over the lake. Astrid watched as they took it in turns to dive, snatching unsuspecting fish from the water and dropping them at her feet.

"Hiccup! I think we have more than enough now!" Astrid yelled, when the pile reached her knees. Toothless landed on the ground and a dripping wet Hiccup climbed down.

"It would be slightly more impressive if I could stay _dry,_" he muttered, flicking water off of his hands and sitting down to empty his boot.

"Won't your…" Astrid gestured to Hiccup's prosthetic, "… _leg_…get rusty?"

"Yes," he answered. "Which is alright, because as soon as I get the chance I'm scrapping this thing and making myself a decent one. I've got a few sketches done up, but I left them at the house. Bud, grab us a branch please."

To Astrid's surprise, Toothless reared onto his hind legs and stumped off, ripping a branch off of a tree. He tilted his head and started…_drawing?_

"Toothless! Not for drawing, bud, for fire," Hiccup slapped a hand to his face.

"Your dragon draws?" Astrid asked, dumbfounded.

"He thinks he does," Hiccup answered. Toothless gave Hiccup a pouty look, dropped the branch and stamped on it, breaking it into pieces. A jet of flame lit the branches, and Hiccup sat down beside the fire. Picking up two sticks that hadn't started burning yet, he scaled two of the fish with a knife and impaled them, then held them over the fire. Astrid settled beside him.

She was still surprised. Pleasantly so. She actually liked Hiccup? It was as much a surprise to her as it was to him. She couldn't stop thinking over what he had said- "_How long has this been coming on?_"

She didn't know. It felt like it had always been there, but she had just cut its chains. She watched as the fish slowly turned brown, and when they were done, Hiccup offered her one.

"Thanks," she said, taking a bite of the hot fish. The meat inside was white and flaky, and tasted amazing, if a little sharp.

"Why does it taste like that?" Astrid asked.

"What, you don't like my cooking?" Hiccup smirked. "Nah, that's the dragon fire. I've got no clue why, but dragon fire does that to meat. I barely notice it anymore; it's been years since I've eaten anything _but _dragon-cooked food."

It was another unpleasant reminder of just how long he had been gone.

"Hiccup," Astrid began. "Why did you leave in the first place? Why didn't you tame the Nightmare instead?"

Hiccup looked up.

"Because if I had tried, all I could see happening was all of _you _swarming the arena and killing the Nightmare instead, then dad would probably disown me, and then you would have all found Toothless here. And you would have either killed him or figure out that he knew how to get to the nest, and you all would have died fighting the Queen. It was so much better for all of you if I left."

"But now you're back. You beat the Queen _on your own. _What does that tell you? Hiccup, whatever had happened, Berk would still be your home. Berk was, is, and always will be home. And if everyone else throws you off the island, I'll hide you under my bed."

Hiccup laughed.

"I don't actually think anyone's noticed. I'm too tall for my _own _bed now! That wouldn't work!"

"Then we'll build you a house in this cove, and hide you from everyone."

"Yes, I'll live on my own with a crazy, high-maintenance reptile with enormous wings it can't actually use without me."

"You wouldn't be on your own," she said shyly. 'Shy' was a new concept to Astrid. "You'd have me."

o~0~O~0~o

Astrid watched as Hiccup and Toothless landed outside the Haddock home. She laughed as Toothless barged his way inside, and the huge four-winged dragon watched the two. The curiosity was too much; she landed Stormfly and crept to the door, listening hard.

"Hey, Mom," Hiccup was saying.

"Your father has something to say to you," Valka said pointedly. Astrid heard the sounds of Stoick's bulk moving about.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup. That was uncalled for today."

"Oh, it's fine!" Hiccup said breezily.

Astrid could almost see the narrowed eyes.

"You're in a good mood. You're in a _good mood._ Why are you in a good mood?" Valka asked.

"Oh, no particular reason," Hiccup said airily.

"My gods," Valka suddenly started laughing. "Astrid kissed you,"

"Hey!" Hiccup protested. Astrid doubled over in silent laughter. "Who's to say I didn't kiss her?"

"Because you're more timid than a lamb,"

Stoick's booming laughter filled the house.

"Hiccup, my boy! What'd you have to do, sing her a song? This is _Astrid, _and she kissed you?"

"What're you trying to say?" Hiccup muttered. "And no, we _talked. _Like _normal _people."

"You are anything but normal, Hiccup. And don't mess around; if she loves you and you love her, don't wait for a cart of yak milk to come along!"

Hiccup said exactly what Astrid was thinking.

"What?"

"Have I never told you the story of how your mother and I met? She was fifteen, and I was charging off somewhere with… with someone, and she was running in the opposite direction. Then this cart of yak milk comes out of nowhere, and I run straight into it, it shatters and I land straight on top of your mother!"

"Which was more painful than it sounds," Valka interjected.

"And I tried to stand up, and I slipped on the milk everywhere, and then she just gets her feet under me and throws me off! She was furious! Then she just started laughing!"

"At his beard! It was a stupid short thing at the time, and it was covered in splinters and yak milk,"

"And it wasn't a month before we got married! Do you still remember the song, Valka?"

"_Remember it? _Of _course _I remember it!"

"Gods help me," Hiccup said. "If you're going to dance, make sure- oof!"

There was a sound that Astrid was pretty sure could only be made by Hiccup being knocked on his face. There was a scrape of metal as he stood up.

"I'm just going to watch from over here," he said, and Astrid heard him stand on the other side of the door as Stoick started whistling. Her jaw dropped. She _knew _this song! It took all of her self-control to keep silent. She heard a sound behind her and turned to see the titanic orange dragon gurgling along to the tune. Even the dragon knew the song. Astrid clapped a hand over her mouth and squatted down, howling with silent laughter, tears running down her face. The _dragon _knew it! It was singing! A dragon, singing! A choked sound burst from her throat as she dropped onto her side, so that when Hiccup opened the door to investigate Astrid was cackling like a maniac on the ground.

"Gods, what happened to you?" he asked.

Astrid could only wheeze.

"It's singing," she got out, before howling with mirth once again.

Hiccup shook his head.

"You, milady, are insane. Come inside, if you dare brave the fearsome dancing of-"

He broke off. He was staring at something behind Astrid. Inside, Stoick and Valka finished their dance and were laughing together. Astrid turned around, and her eyes raked the view for whatever Hiccup was staring at.

"Oh, my gods," Astrid whispered. Drawing in close to the docks were four ships with Outcast sails. How had they gotten so close?

"Dad," Hiccup yelled. Stoick and Valka stumbled out of the house, Valka still giggling.

"What, Hiccup?" Stoick asked. Hiccup just pointed. Stoick's face went white.

"Right. Astrid, find the others. Act like you have no clue who they're looking for. Hiccup, take the dragons to Dragon Island, make sure they stay out of sight, and _make sure you do as well. _If they see you, you're already dead. Valka, you, Bucket and Mulch take the elders and children to…"

"The Raven Point cove," Hiccup broke in, and quickly gave directions.

"Where's Gobber? We'll need our weapons;"

Hiccup's face went pale.

"Bad news, Dad."

Stoick turned. The armoury was barred shut, and already the Outcasts were marching up towards it.

"Just go! Hiccup, don't let them see you! Gobber, Spitelout and I will divert him into the woods."

Stoick barrelled off. Hiccup scrambled onto Toothless' back.

"Stay safe," Astrid grabbed his hand. He nodded and slid his mask onto his face. Toothless threw himself skywards, moving faster than Astrid would have thought possible. The black blur whipped past the village, and Astrid watched as Stormfly, Cloudjumper, and all the other dragons flew after them. They vanished as Astrid ran through the village, dodging Outcasts. She found Snotlout, the Twins, and Fiske. Snorri and Idris were nowhere to be found. Fiske stashed his mask in a bucket as they ran; it would be a dead giveaway if he was seen with it.

"Look, there's Fishlegs," Snotlout panted. They ran towards him, but skidded to a stop when they realised why he was so stock-still.

There was a huge Outcast in front of him, almost the size of Stoick. Mildew was standing beside Fishlegs.

"Guys…" Fishlegs squeaked.

"Hello there, you!" the man growled.

"Who're you?" Astrid said defiantly, refusing to be cowed.

"Glad you asked. I am Alvin the Treacherous; and I earned that name."

"How do you earn 'Alvin'," Tuffnut asked stupidly. Ruffnut laughed.

"Idiots. I am looking for the Dragon Conqueror, the one who rides on the Night Fury. We've been promised a large reward if we capture him. Hand him over, and no-one gets hurt."

Alvin paced around, waiting for the information. Mildew leaned over to Astrid.

"Say goodbye to Hiccup," he whispered, leering. Quick as a flash, Astrid rabbit punched him in the side of the head, and he dropped into her arms. Alvin turned back around.

"What's wrong with him?" Alvin asked.

"My grandfather's frail," Astrid said sweetly. "He needs his nap,"

The second Alvin wasn't watching, she dropped Mildew on the ground. Then Alvin drew his sword and pointed it at Astrid.

"Right," Alvin snarled. "You tell me where he is, or the girl gets it,"

Astrid growled. She was **_not _**just some girly girl in distress! She was about to say so, when she heard something behind Alvin.

_Step, clunk. Step, clunk._

Her heart sank. That idiot Hiccup.

"Leave them alone. I'm the one you're looking for," he said, his voice muffled slightly under his mask.

Alvin turned.

"Well well, the mighty Dragon Conqueror. A bit smaller than I expected; what're you going to do, poke me to death? How old even are you? Twelve? Thirteen?"

Hiccup drew Inferno and lit it.

"Seventeen. Try me," he snarled. Alvin laughed.

"You've got pluck, you. Where's your dragon, hey?"

"I told him to fly away. He won't come back."

Astrid groaned internally. He must have turned around and come back. He really _couldn't _follow orders.

"In that case, come along, Dragon Conqueror. We'll get a big pile of gold for you."

Hiccup followed Alvin, tapping something on Inferno's hilt. Astrid's eyes widened and she elbowed Fiske, who understood immediately. He mimicked the tapping, over and over, and the moment Alvin was gone he squatted and started writing in the dirt.

_Toothless in cove. Get him out. Burn ships. Don't let anyone get hurt. _

"He's every bit the boar-headed Viking Snotlout is!" swore Astrid angrily. She swiped an abandoned mace from the ground.

"Fishlegs, go into the woods and find Stoick. Tell him that Alvin's got Hiccup. I'm going to the cove. Fiske, you come with me. Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, make sure all the Outcasts are gone, and find Idris and Snorri."

Astrid gripped the mace tightly and ran towards Raven Point, Fiske on her heels. She dodged low-hanging branches and jumped over logs and rocks, racing to find Toothless. Fiske suddenly let out an animal screeching noise.

"What in Thor's name was that?" cried Astrid.

"My… dragon call…" panted Fiske. "Call… Toothless…"

The two erupted into the cove, where Valka was in full panic mode.

"I can't fly his dragon!" she was yelling at Bucket, who seemed utterly bemused.

"Valka!" cried Astrid. Valka spun and grabbed Astrid's shoulders.

"Where is he?" the woman cried.

"He gave himself up. Alvin had us at swordpoint,"

Valka swore angrily.

"I can't fly his dragon! What can we do?" she screeched, lost in the horror's of a parent's fear; there was every chance Hiccup was dead already. The children were huddled together, frightened and confused.

"I think I can," Astrid said, with more confidence than she felt. She strode over to Toothless, who was hurling himself at the sides of the cove, wings beating frantically as he struggled to get out.

"Toothless!" yelled Fiske, then made his dragon call again. Toothless turned to them, his pupils slitted in fear. Astrid swung herself into the saddle.

"Work with me, Toothless. We have to help Hiccup," she whispered as Fiske swung on behind her. She slid her feet into the stirrups, testing out the one that operated the fake tailfin.

"Angle it down if you're turning left, up if you're turning right. Keep it even for straight flying. Flatten it for going down, swing it wide if you're going up," Valka rattled off.

"You said you can't fly him!" Astrid protested.

"I can't work the stirrup! It's not designed for adult feet!"

Fatal design flaw. Something as simple as big feet were stopping Valka from rescuing her son.

"Don't worry," Astrid said. "Toothless, up!"

The dragon leaped into the air.

"Um, wide for up," Astrid muttered, tilting her foot. Toothless screeched as his wing clipped a tree. Then they were out of the cove.

"Even out!" Fiske shouted above the wind. Astrid shifted her foot again.

"Twist your ankle outwards!"

"Flatten!"

Fiske kept shouting instructions as they flew. It was by no means graceful; several times Toothless nearly broke his wing on a tree or another object in the way.

"There's the ships," Astrid cried.

"Flatten the fin, but be ready to swing it wide the second he fires,"

They hurtled towards the lead boat, Toothless screeching furiously. The wind stung Astrid's face and she realised why the riders all wore masks.

The jet of flame roared, and Astrid didn't quite open the fin in time. They splashed into the water, and burst out again, Toothless screeching furiously.  
>"Darn," Fiske muttered. "He's gotten wet. He can't light his fire,"<p>

They whipped past Hiccup's boat, where Alvin was yelling instructions. Toothless spread his claws and snatched his bound rider.

"Hiccup! Toothless got wet!" Fiske yelled down.

"Oh. That complicates things. Fiske, you got your axe?

"Yeah, why?"

"Cut my ropes. I still have Inferno, Alvin's an idiot."

Fiske looked doubtful, but lifted the axe and started gently cutting the ropes. There was a hiss of pain as he accidentally cut Hiccup's arm. The ropes fell away, and Hiccup shouted instructions.

"Toothless is going to drop me. Release the pedal and slide backwards; he'll catch me on the saddle, we've done it loads of times. On three; one… two…three!"

Toothless opened his claws and Hiccup dropped. Toothless dove after him, and Astrid slid backwards on the saddle. Hiccup landed neatly in front of her. There was a cut from the axe on his left arm; it was quite creepy in its placement, stretching horizontally out from the dragon tattoo's mouth.

"Nice of you to drop in," Fiske yelled. Hiccup slid his prosthetic into the stirrup and Toothless shot upwards. Unlike Astrid's clumsy control of the dragon, Hiccup and Toothless moved like they were one and the same. Hiccup's posture was loose. Here in the sky was where he belonged.

They circled high over the boats, dodging the flying weapons, as Hiccup tied the scraps of rope that had bound him around Inferno's hilt. Satisfied, he lit the sword and swung the rope like a bola, hurling the sword downwards. It caught the sails of the lead boat, lighting them up like so much dry wood. Hiccup pulled the rope back towards him, extinguishing the sword.

"That was awesome," Astrid told him. Hiccup slid Inferno back into its holster.

"Head dry yet, bud?" he asked Toothless. The dragon cooed happily and let out a blast of flame at the third boat. The Outcasts leaped overboard and were all left floundering in the water. Astrid's sight tunnelled; there was a fourth boat sailing away, the one that Alvin stood on.

"Hiccup, we missed one," Astrid said.

"We meant to. That one needs to go back to Outcast Island and spread the word that only an idiot tangles with a Night Fury."

They swooped down, and two by two scooped the Outcasts out of the water and dumped them on the docks. Stoick was waiting, his face red with anger. Hiccup winced.

"I'm going to get an earful for this," he muttered. Astrid punched him.

"And rightly so, Hiccup. That was stupid."

"She has a point," Fiske said. "That was a dopey move. If you had been off the island, then we wouldn't have had this problem."

"What we _would _have had was a line of Vikings impaled on a sword like so many fish," Hiccup retorted. "Alvin points a sword, I don't like it. In fact, _anyone _points a sword, I don't like it."

"Hiccup, this is serious," Astrid said. "You heard what Alvin said. There's a bounty on your head. We'll be attacked practically every day,"

"Then I'll have to leave you guys and get sighted somewhere else," Hiccup responded.

"No, that's not what I meant. I want you to learn how to seriously defend yourself. It's all well and good throwing your sword around, but you still can't fight. I don't care if I have to drag you to the arena by the ankle; from now on I'm going to be teaching you how to defend yourself."

"Astrid…" Hiccup said as Toothless scooped up the last Outcast.

"No 'but', Hiccup. I'm not changing my mind."

Toothless dumped the Outcast on the dock. Hiccup slid off of Toothless and breathed in, clearly preparing himself for his father's tirade.

Stoick didn't even get the chance to start. Nobody had noticed that the last Outcast still had a sword in his grip; he swung it around and slammed the hilt into the side of Hiccup's head. Stoick let out a feral animal roar and punched the Outcast straight in the face; the Outcast and Hiccup both fell to their knees at the same time.

"Ouch," Hiccup said groggily, and tilted sideways. Astrid quickly ducked down to check the wound. It wasn't too bad; just a hard whack.

"He'll be fine. He knows how to get himself into a mess all right," she said, masking her worry. Fiske shook his head.

"Gods of the shrine," he muttered. "One of these days he'll win a fight and still be conscious at the end of it."

Stoick scooped Hiccup up, the boy flopping like a rag doll in his father's huge arms. Gobber returned from wherever he had been with armfuls of rope; he tied the bunch of Outcasts together.

"Stoick!"

Valka erupted onto the wooden docks, skidding to a stop. Her staff clattered to the ground. "Is he alright?"

"Yes," Astrid sighed. "He had it all under control until _he-" _she pointed to the Outcast in question, "hilt-whipped him. It was a good hit."

Valka muttered something vaguely familiar in a strange language and took Hiccup from Stoick.

"I'll take him back to the house," she said, turning and walking up the docks. Scooping up the staff, Astrid followed.

"This child," Valka muttered furiously, "will stay in his bed for the next week even if I have to drug him myself. He's such a_-._" At this point she threw in a word in the strange language that Astrid was pretty sure was not suitable for younger ears.

"What is that language you guys keep muttering in?" Astrid asked. Valka looked at her.

"We learned it from Snorri and Fiske," she said. "It's useful to have no-one else understand you."

"Huh," Astrid responded.


	7. Eat it Bitter, Taste it Sweet

Chapter seven

**AN: ****_Howdeedoodeethere, mi frieundlees._**** I'd like to thank my Chinese teacher for the saying this chapter is named after; when I later read it in the Heroes of Olympus books I went and showed her and she started chattering something about something or other. Meh. But yeah, ****_xie xie, lao shi. _****This chapter was highly amusing to write; I just got this image of David Tennant in a Viking helmet hanging Hiccup upside-down, and I had to write it. Mi ha ha ha (my evil laugh).**

**Chapter seven**

**Eat it Bitter, Taste it Sweet**

When Hiccup woke up for the third time, the first thing he got was a fist to the arm.

"Ow…" he groaned, lifting his head.

"That's for being stupid!" Astrid said angrily. The she gave him a peck on the cheek. "That's for stopping Alvin from skewering me."

She offered him a hand and he took it, pulling himself into an upright position. He clambered to his feet, froze and looked down.

Astrid grinned. While he had been out, Valka having surreptitiously fed him sleeping herbs to keep him down for a few days, Astrid had gone to Gobber and told him about Hiccup's troubles with his prosthetic. The smith had whipped up a new prosthetic and a new stirrup for Toothless, rigging it up to the old system strapped to the dragon's side. Astrid had looked the other way when Gobber had fastened the prosthetic on. It was ridiculous, she knew, but it made her feel squeamish when she saw the place where Hiccup's foot was meant to be.

"Ha," Hiccup said. He sat back down and took a closer look. "Spring operated, that's one of my designs. Who made this?"

"Gobber made it. Why's it shaped like that?" Astrid asked.

"It locks into the stirrup," Hiccup answered, placing it back solidly on the ground. "So I can stop taking nose-dives off of my dragon when the prosthetic slips out of the stirrup."

Astrid nodded. That was one less danger.

"Right. Off to the arena with _you,_" Astrid said sternly.

"Wait, what?" Hiccup asked.

"Nice try, Hiccup. I've gotten your dad's approval. I'm teaching you how to fight."

Hiccup groaned.

"Fine…"

There was no point arguing if Stoick had said yes. Hiccup stood up.

"Ow, my head," he murmured.

"Stop naming your injured body parts and follow me," Astrid said.

"Does pride count as a body part?"

"No. Hurry up."

o~0~O~0~o

_Step, click, step, click._

Hiccup followed Astrid into the arena. In the centre, there was a wooden model of a Viking. Whoever had made it had painted a red circle on the chest, stomach, the back of the neck and the head, and yellow ones on the wrists and shins. The nose, for some reason, was orange.

"Okay. This is your opponent." Astrid said.

"He doesn't seem to be too mobile," Hiccup answered.

"Ha ha. I don't care. Now, you see the red?"

"No, I see the black spots in my vision though."

"Stop being sarcastic. The red spots are the places you aim for. If you shoot or stab someone there, then they die. The yellow spots are where you hit to disarm or incapacitate them."

"That's a big word,"

"And I know you know what it means. The orange spot is special. You hit that with the heel of your hand if you're disarmed. _Don't _try it on me. Doing that is generally lethal. Now, come at me,"

She threw him a wooden sword.

"Um," Hiccup said, and gingerly took a step forward. Astrid swept his feet out from underneath him and he landed on his back.

"This isn't working, I can't just attack you!" Hiccup protested.

"No, you can't. Trolls. You need to-"

A huge shape exploded into the arena and Hiccup dropped the wooden sword, drawing Inferno. Astrid was knocked onto her face. Hiccup looked wildly at the model and charged at the huge Viking, swinging Inferno's pommel at the man's wrist.

He found himself hanging upside down as the man removed his fake beard.

"You're right," Spitelout said. "He _is _going to fail at this. One hit to his knuckles and he was helpless."

"Uncle Spitelout?" Hiccup asked, and got dropped on his head. "Ow… why would you do that?"

Astrid stood up and cracked a grin.

"To see how you would react. I told him to come in and pretend to attack you when I said 'trolls'. You were aiming for the right spot-if you were hoping to lose the fight and your head into the bargain."

She dropped the smile. "Hiccup, just disarming your enemies won't do anything. You saw in that last dragon raid when you were fourteen. Stoick beat a Nightmare with his bare hands. You'd be fish bait."

"I thought you had a 'Honey and a Hatchet' policy," Hiccup muttered. "Where's my honey?"

"Astrid," Spitelout said. "I'll be going now. But here's a thought- no-one is worried about a seventeen-year-old fishbone. They _are, _however, _terrified _of the Dragon Conqueror. If he can't fight like a Viking, then make him fight like a dragon"

Spitelout strode out.

"That's a really good idea. Hiccup, put on your mask and tell me, what is Toothless' first plan of approach when he's fighting?" Astrid asked.

"He growls," Hiccup responded, pulling on the mask and tightening the leather straps, "or he roars, and he flares his wings out to scare the enemies off."

"Good. Now, since Fiske can, I trust you can do a dragon call?"

"Easy," Hiccup answered, and let out a shrieking cry that sounded exactly like Toothless roaring.

"Good," Astrid said. "Then what does he do?"

"Well, he pounces, or he waits until they charge him and beats them away with his wings and tail,"

Astrid lifted a shield from the weapons rack and handed it to Hiccup.  
>"Use that like your wings. Giving someone a good hit with a shield gives them some time to think. Let's try that so far."<p>

She picked up her sword and imitated a Viking.

"Grr. I'm going to kidnap you," she said in a guttural voice.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Just do it!" snapped Astrid. Hiccup dropped into a low posture and roared at her. She felt goose bumps pop up down her neck. It really was intimidating. She rushed at Hiccup, and he thrust the shield at her. It caught her in the stomach, stopping her in her tracks. He went to swing the wooden sword around, it hit the horns on his mask, was knocked out of his hands and clattered to the ground. He groaned.

"Swords. I hate swords. Why did I make myself a sword? I wish I had claws or some-" He stopped. "I've had an idea," he stepped back and pulled his journal and a charcoal out of nowhere. He sketched a quick idea and held it out for Astrid to see.

A pair of leather gloves with metal spikes over the tops of the fingers, like claws.

"That way, I also have protection on my knuckles, so that I don't get what Uncle Spitelout just did done in a real fight."

"That is really clever," Astrid marvelled. "This is what I'm talking about. But instead of metal, why don't you raid that dragon skull in the Mead Hall and use the dragon fangs?"

"Yeah…" Hiccup muttered, "they're fireproof, so they won't melt if they come near Inferno, and they're generally sharper than metal. And pointier. Yes, that'd be perfect!"

He sketched in some extra details.

"How soon can you make them?" Astrid asked.

"Something as small as this? I could have them done in a day at the most."

"Well, go, make them. By the looks of it, we won't be able to do anything until you've made them."

"You're letting me off that easily?"

"Go, before I change my mind," Astrid grinned as Hiccup did his lopsided run out to a napping Toothless, woke him, and they flew out of sight.

Stormfly lifted her head in confusion. Astrid laughed and slid onto her new leather saddle, which Gobber had copied from Toothless' version while Hiccup had been out, and the Nadder lifted into flight. Astrid flew a few loops around the island, watching from above as Hiccup left the Mead Hall with an armful of dragon fangs and strode into the forge. Stormfly ducked and weaved, soaring over the village, blissfully ignoring Mildew's withering glare. Astrid scowled. There was no word but her own as to what Mildew had tried to do, so Stoick couldn't banish the old munge bucket from Berk. And Mildew knew it. For spite, Astrid directed Stormfly towards Mildew's cabbage field, laughing as the Nadder dragged her huge claws through the plants. They soared away to the wonderful sound of Mildew yelling at them.

She landed outside the forge some hours later and walked in. One glove, presumably completed, lay off to the side, while Hiccup had his forging mask on and was amidst a spiral of sparks. Astrid frowned. There shouldn't have been metal involved in the gloves, should there? She stepped closer to see that Hiccup was constructing some small gears, and as she watched he plunged the last one into a tub of water, then withdrew it and carefully dropped it into place in the leather glove, shifted the gears around slightly then turned to his pile of dragon fangs.

"Gods above! Astrid, you're going to kill me doing that!"

Astrid smirked.

"Poor baby. How are you going?"

"Almost done," Hiccup groused. "I've just got to put in the fangs on the left glove. You're blocking the way."

She stepped aside and Hiccup plucked up the dragon fangs, sliding them into spiked metal sheaths on the back of the gloves. He put the gloves on, and flicked his hands. The fangs slid out and stopped, extended.

"How did you do that?" Astrid asked, astonished. Hiccup popped out one of the fangs.

"There's a metal catch in there, it stops them falling out. He popped the fang back in, and mimed swiping with it. Astrid grabbed the glove and pulled it off.

"It comes off too easily," she told him.

"Yeah, yeah, give it here,"

He pulled out a needle from his leather apron, and found a few old straps and buckles from some old project. Astrid watched as he sewed them on. Sewing. Hiccup could sew. Wow.

"Astrid? How about this?"

She shook herself out of her thoughts. Hiccup tightened the buckles and mimed another swipe. Astrid caught the glove, like she had before, but when she went to pull it off, all she got was a cut hand for her trouble.

"Ow. Yeah, that's good. Now, you keep those with you at all times."

"What's all this bounty stuff anyway?" Hiccup asked as he dampened the forge.

"You haven't seen it?" Astrid asked. Hiccup shook his head. Astrid dragged Hiccup to the Mead Hall and dug around in a box.

"Here," she said, holding out Hiccup's bounty poster. There was a bad likeness of his dragon mask on it, and the figure on it was built nothing like Hiccup. He groaned, eyes flickering over the page.

"Yeah, I know." Astrid responded. "You would think that you're some sort of god walking Midgard."

"That's not why he's groaning,"

Astrid turned. Snorri was striding through the hall towards them. Hiccup was still staring at the poster.

"This is all a mess," he said. His fingers were gripping the side of the chest so tightly that the dragon fangs slid out of their sheaths. "I've probably killed you all by coming here."

"No, Hiccup," Snorri said. "Remember when we met you? You found us on a slaver's ship. Fiske and I were thinking pretty darkly by that point. But there's always hope. My mother used to tell my something. She said _Eat it bitter, taste it sweet. _It means that the path is hard, but the reward is great. Hiccup, you could have chosen the easy path, and left everyone here alone. But they would have ended up dead or in slavery. You chose the hard path, and when you complete that path, you will see that it was worth it."

"But what if I'm not the one who would suffer?" Hiccup whispered. He looked… lost. A mental sob echoed in Astrid's head. Never, _ever, _had Hiccup looked like that. _That _was his flaw. Not his clumsiness, or his pacifist tendencies, but the fact that he would throw away his own life to save someone else. Astrid reached out and placed a hand on Hiccup's arm as Snorri replied.

"You told me an old Viking saying once; 'When your friends are roasting on the spit, you're the one who feels the fire.' Well, Hiccup, here's your fire, but you can let it burn or you can throw water on it and dance on the ashes. Your choice. But whatever you do, just remember you're not alone. Think on it_, _Hiccup."

He turned and left.

"What in Thor's name was that_?_" Astrid asked.

"Fiske and Snorri come from some strange island, I don't know where, they've never said. It must be far away though; they don't believe in Thor and Odin and that, they have their own strange names for them. But that saying… that has merit. He has something there."

"Good," Astrid said. Hiccup blinked a few times and some of the old spunk returned to his green eyes.

"Okay, I'm done with the annoying self-pity now," he said, letting go of the wooden chest. He retracted the dragon fangs and held a hand out for the scroll. Astrid watched as his eyes flicked over it. He whistled.

"Wow. Apparently I'm a 'deranged, feral monster with a thirst for blood'," he smirked. "And I'm worth thirty sheep. You'd think that I'd killed a chief or something,"

"Read further down," Astrid suggested.

"_It is widely believed that the Dragon Conqueror killed a dragon the size of an island in a fight for power. He is extremely dangerous and… and should be captured or killed on sight?" _Hiccup read. "What is this garbage? _It is preferred that he be handed over to Dagur the Deranged alive. _It sounds like the Dragon Manual. _Extremely dangerous, kill on sight. _Phew, if this is the response _I'm _getting I really want to know what people want for Drago. And Dagur? Honestly? The second the guy sees me he'll probably recognise his old knife-throwing target."

Astrid winced. "That was nasty,"

"Yeah, and he won't stop calling me 'Brother'. If I had a brother, I'm really hoping he'd be slightly less insane."

"What, like you're not insane?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying Dagur is MORE insane!" Hiccup grinned. He stuck out his lower jaw and started imitating Dagur.

"Hiccup, my brother! How have you been? Just in case you have been well, how about I stick you with a knife?"

Astrid laughed and followed Hiccup as he tossed the scroll into the chest in disgust and strode out of the Mead Hall. He climbed into Toothless' saddle, sliding his prosthetic into the stirrup and strapping on his flying mask, and waited for Astrid.

"Race you to the top of the island," he called, and shot skywards. Astrid laughed and Stormfly raced after Toothless' tail. For a moment it seemed that Stormfly might overtake the Night Fury, but Toothless still landed gracefully on the path before the Nadder.

"Ugh. You win. Ow," Astrid rubbed her wind-burnt lips and grimaced. Hiccup looked at her seriously, dismounting.

"You know insects are a nutritious part of every Viking's diet," he said solemnly. Astrid glared at him. "Wait, hold on,"

He dug in Toothless' saddlebags and pulled out another mask. It was a light green, a similar colour to Astrid's shirt, and striped with brown and orange.

"This might help," he said, tossing it to her. He came over and showed her how to tighten the straps. "There. It suits you,"

It was actually kind of comfortable; there were slits over the mouth for breathing, and the eye slits seemed much wider from inside. She suddenly realised who this mask must have belonged to…

Sonja, the girl who had died. Suddenly she felt a lot less comfortable wearing the mask. As if he could tell, Hiccup answered her unasked question.

"Sonja wouldn't mind. She always said that she wished she could meet you. She'd be glad that her mask is going to you. Wear it proudly,"

Astrid sat down, dangling her les off of the cliff-side path and smiling. Hiccup dropped down beside her, clicking his metal leg against Astrid was willing to bet her axe that even now there were ships sailing towards Berk, loaded with men after Hiccup, but for now she couldn't see them. And that was all that mattered.


	8. The Day and the Night Fury

**AN: Mi ha ha ha… here we introduce the owner of one of the best lines in history. I want it on a t-shirt- "Uh, hello? I'm deranged!" "Yep, can't argue with logic like that," I laughed so hard when I saw Cast Out part two. Dagur is hilarious. Also slightly mad. But meh.**

**In this chapter, I also threw in another character. I don't know if she will end up becoming a support character or just a background, but I see her as an Angela-the-Herbalist kind of character (Angela says: Watch out for Ferrets!) and I like the way she supports Astrid. Anyway, **_**toodloonseeyasoon…**_

**Chapter eight**

**The Day and the Night Fury**

Of course, the next day they all woke to another attack. Astrid picked up her axe, having slept fully dressed, and ran to Stormfly, who flew her to Hiccup's house. Hiccup was, for some reason, painting his face with gray, red and green war paint.

"Why are you putting on war paint?" Astrid asked.

"Because I've managed to convince Dad that if I can scare the attackers away they might not come back too soon. Do we know who this lot are?"

"A bunch of Berserkers, led by- you guessed it- Dagur."

Hiccup groaned.

"That's all I need. Oh well, now all I need to do is scare the Hel out of a nutcase. Should be easy."

He turned to her, and she shuddered. His steady hands had painted terrifying swirls of colour over his face. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards at her expression.  
>"Please don't freak. It's just paint."<p>

"Yeah…" Astrid responded. If she tried, she could ignore the paint and see just regular old Hiccup, gangly and awkward, and resolved that when this was over she was convincing him to start wearing green tunics again. Hel, she would stitch the thing herself if she had to. It wasn't fair on Hiccup that he was being forced into a warrior's guise. The poor boy was a pacifist, for Thor's sake! Even play-fighting made him uncomfortable. Astrid watched as he buckled on the gloves and pulled on his mask.

"Time to go," he said, his voice slightly muffled. Astrid followed Hiccup outside.

"Don't let him use you for knife practise again," she said. Hiccup climbed on to Toothless and nodded. Astrid pulled her own mask over her face and climbed onto Stormfly's back.

"You guys hide the dragons and come back if you need to." he told her. She nodded and shot away. As fast as she could, she gathered the dragons and left them in Snorri, Fiske and Idris' care in the woods. She left her mask and hurtled towards where Hiccup had been last. She skidded to a stop just in time to see Hiccup drop from Toothless' saddle, landing in front of Dagur.

"Hello, Dragon Conqueror," Dagur grinned, his face alight with manic revelry in the violence around them. "I wonder what you look like under that mask."

Hiccup let out a harsh laugh. To Astrid it sounded forced and ridiculous, but to Dagur it probably sounded completely legitimate.

"I'm offended. I would have thought you would recognise me, Dagur" he drawled. Hiccup pulled off his mask and threw it to the ground. At the same time, he flicked the gloves and the fangs slid out. Astrid watched as Dagur's face turned white.

"Hello, _brother,_" Hiccup said, and screeched his dragon cry. It was blood-chilling; and a few of the other Berserkers cried out "Night Fury! Get down!"

"You…" Dagur snarled. "I called you brother. I taught you how to hunt dragons, how to throw knives, how to fight!"

Hiccup made another dragon noise; the choking Toothless laugh.

"If reminding me that you liked to throw knives at me is supposed to deter me, it won't."

He growled, a low animalistic sound. Though Dagur obviously couldn't, Astrid could see how forced this all felt to him, and see how Hiccup's fighting stance was more for show than actually for fighting.

Dagur laughed, the maniacal sound echoing.

"You should know I like hunting dragons. And you seem to be more dragon than Viking, _Hiccup._"

"I'm not a Viking at all," Hiccup retorted, before springing with a power Astrid wouldn't have thought possible. It wasn't an attack at all, but it still sent Dagur stumbling backwards. The Berserker swore angrily and pointed his axe at Hiccup, and Toothless screeched and advanced menacingly.

"I used this axe to usurp my father, and I'll use it to kill you too. I swear, I will have that Night Fury's skull as a trophy. I wonder how much someone would pay for the skull of the Dragon Conqueror?"

Toothless blasted Dagur's boots with flame, and the Berserker yelped and tore them off. He didn't see Hiccup pull a handful of metal filings from his belt and throw them on the ground; Dagur swore as he stepped on the sharp shavings.

"This is how you fight? With fire and trickery? Cross steel like a real man,"

Dagur lunged forwards and Hiccup tripped backwards over his own metal leg to avoid the swinging axe. Astrid strode out of her hiding place and brained Dagur with the flat of her axe blade. His helmet was left with a large dent, and one of the horns snapped off sideways.

"You scream like a girl," she said as Dagur dropped. She turned to Hiccup.

"Did he get you?"

Hiccup gave her his signature deadpan look.

"No, I'm bleeding all down my front because he missed," he said, wincing and wrapping his arms around his stomach.

Astrid hadn't even noticed. She ducked forwards and prised away his arms to get a look at the cut.

"You're lucky, it's just a scratch. I need to teach you how to dodge. You don't seem to get that you need to get out of the way of attacks," she told him, undoing his belt and re-tying it around the wound.

He rolled his eyes, grimacing as Astrid tied the belt tight.

"Yes, I thought I was supposed to get chopped into little tiny pieces. You know, large, sharp, deadly weapons are most beneficial to your health,"

"They'd be beneficial to _my _health right now," Astrid muttered, standing up. "You're an idiot_. _I'm not your nursemaid. Stop getting injured and I can stop fussing over you."

"Yes, milady. And meanwhile we can worry about getting the rest of the Berserkers off the island before they finish sneaking up behind you with a hammer."

Astrid turned to see a very large Berserker with a very large hammer heading towards her. She ducked under the blow, snatched her axe off of the ground and swung it at the man. It bit deep into his side, and the man fell sideways like an axed tree.

_Oops, _she thought guiltily. _That was meant to be the flat of the blade. _She stooped and looked closer. _Great Odin's ghost, _she thought, eyes widening. _I think I killed him! _She dropped her axe and started hyperventilating. _I killed a man! Oh my gods, I killed someone!_

Behind her, she heard a retching sound, and turned to see Hiccup throw up. She felt like throwing up too.

_Thor's hammer, I killed someone! In front of Hiccup! I killed him! He's dead! And Hiccup was RIGHT THERE! Gods above, what have I done?_

She stumbled to Hiccup, trying to block the Berserker's face from her mind. It would be forever frozen in that look of shock he had worn when Astrid had hit him. Dragons were one thing; until a few days ago, Astrid hadn't been aware that they had deep emotions. But people? She wrapped an arm around Hiccup's shoulders. He was shaking with horror, and his green eyes were filled with a petrifying fear. She turned to the Night Fury, who seemed utterly bewildered at his rider's reaction to the violence, and gestured him over. The dragon plodded over, and Astrid manoeuvred Hiccup into the saddle. She picked up Hiccup's mask from the ground and strapped it on his face, bent and pressed the prosthetic into the stirrup, then looked the dragon in the eye.

"Keep him safe," she said. The dragon practically nodded, and bounded through the village. She snatched up her axe and started running through the fray, dodging swords and maces as she ran to the woods.

Most of the Berserkers were subdued by now, and it was time for the dragons to come out and scare the Hel out of them. She blinked away the tears that flooded her eyes. She was disgusted with herself. She had killed someone! She had literally swung the axe that had killed them! She shook her head to clear it, stumbling blindly over tree roots. Her boot crunched into a large branch and she landed flat on her face. Picking herself back up and plucking the splinters and decaying leaves from her hands, she finally managed to locate Idris, Snorri and Fiske.

"Gods of the shrine," Fiske said, leaning backwards. "What happened to you?"

Astrid suddenly realised she was still holding a blood-covered axe.

"It's… it's nothing. I'm fine. Dagur's down, and most of the Berserkers have been beaten. It's our turn."

She crossed over to Stormfly and picked up the mask Hiccup had given her, tying it on and hauling herself onto Stormfly's back. The Nadder chirruped happily and turned her head to look at her rider.

"Hey, girl," Astrid murmured. "Let's go flying."

Stormfly screeched in agreement and spread her blue and yellow dappled wings. Lifting into flight, she was soon joined by Stormcleaver, Cloudjumper, Thunder and Lightning and the other dragons. She allowed herself to lean forwards against her dragon's neck.

"Oh, Stormfly, what have I done?" she asked, to no-one in particular. Stormfly cooed, a reassuring sound. It was amazing how dragons could communicate their feelings with simply a noise. It was very calming, and she relaxed slightly. The flock of dragons, Valka at their head, swooped low over the Berserkers, who howled in terror and strained against their captors. Several broke loose and fled to the docks, and at Stoick's signal the rest of the Berserkers were let go. They grabbed their fallen comrades, Dagur included, and leapt into their boats, rowing away frantically. Stormfly and Astrid peeled away from the dragons, and Astrid scanned the ground below for the black Night Fury. After a short while, she spotted him, and dropped beside them neatly.

"Hiccup," she said quietly, reaching out to the boy. He pulled off his mask and looked at her.

"I'm so sorry," she said pleadingly. "I really didn't mean to kill him. He gave me a fright, and I didn't have time to think, and-"

"It's alright," he broke in. Astrid stopped."It's not the first time I've seen someone die,"

"Then why did you-" she gestured vaguely.

"It's really stupid," he answered, wincing. "I have a phobia of blood,"

"What?" she said, astonished. He looked at her, a slight wry smile on his face.

"I know, it's ridiculous. Who ever heard of a Viking that hated blood? But then, I never was much of a Viking, was I? Dagur had a point,"

The fact that Hiccup honestly saw himself as a square peg in a round hole was a bit of a problem. Astrid nodded and gave Hiccup a quick pat on the arm.

"Good fighting today. You probably could have made Thor himself drop his hammer and cry there."

Hiccup nodded, and Stormfly lifted back into flight. Astrid landed with a thud in front of the seamstress' house, which was fortunately undamaged. She had a request to make.

o~0~O~0~o

Boredom. Sheer boredom.

The seamstress, Toffa, had given Astrid a very knowing look when Astrid had asked for her help. After almost an hour spent stabbing herself in the finger with a needle, Astrid was relieved when Toffa gave up on teaching Astrid how to sew.

"At this rate, by the time we've made it the boy will have grown out of it," she said. "Now, see that box? There's a few bolts of cloth in there. I think I've got some green."

Astrid dug through the box, unearthing the folded fabric. She straightened up and cursed when she hit her head on the box's lid.

"Stupid box," she muttered, bringing Toffa the cloth. Toffa held up the fabric.

"He hasn't grown too much, I think. So only a little larger than the last one." the seamstress muttered to herself. "Knife, please."

Astrid passed her the knife, and Toffa deftly cut the cloth into the right shapes. She watched mutely as the seamstress compared different threads to the fabric, deciding on the right colour. This was all nonsense to Astrid; what did it matter if the thread wasn't precisely the same colour as the fabric? Toffa noticed the shieldmaiden's reserved behaviour.

"What happened, Astrid?" Toffa asked. Astrid looked into Toffa's wide brown eyes. The seamstress looked concerned.

"Today… when everyone was fighting…"

"Oh," Toffa drew out the syllable in comprehension. "I saw that. It's alright, honey. Almost everyone on this island has had to make the decision for someone to die at one point."

"But… I didn't even mean to! I panicked, and Hiccup saw, and it doesn't feel right! I feel like I should be covered in blood, so everyone knows that I've done something unforgiveable, but I didn't get a SINGLE DROP on me! It… I can't explain, I feel… contaminated, like I've got some disease, and no-one should come near me."

"Astrid, that Berserker was coming at you fast. If you hadn't done what you did, he would have killed you and kidnapped Hiccup. I can't tell you what to feel, but just ask yourself; do you value Hiccup more than the Berserker?"

Astrid nodded.

"And if it comes to it, is your cause important enough to justify killing again, or will you falter at the crucial point in a fight? Because I don't think it's just about you here; you're worried about Hiccup. Does protecting Hiccup mean more to you than allowing the senseless violence of the kidnappers to continue unabated?"

Toffa had something there. Astrid turned the question over in her head. Toffa sensed her indecision.

"I'm not saying that the Berserkers and such deserve to die; everyone deserves a long life. But to you, Hiccup means more than they do, doesn't he?"

Astrid made up her mind.

"If I had the chance to change what I did, I think I would turn it down."

Toffa threw her hands up in mock gratitude.

"Thank the gods and pass the thread box." she said.

"What does that mean?" Astrid asked in confusion.

"It means pass the thread box, Hofferson. I need more of this thread."

Astrid cursed and scrambled to find the box.

o~0~O~0~o

Astrid waited cautiously outside Hiccup's house the next day, waiting for the teen to return so she could give him the tunic and pants. Toffa had dug a pair of boots and a fur vest out of some old chest in her house, and had given them to Astrid as well. When Astrid had tried to talk about some kind of payment, Toffa had waved her off.

"It's payment enough to watch you two gambolling around, hopelessly in love," she had smiled. Astrid had glared daggers. "Don't try and tell me otherwise," Toffa argued. "That boy's been head over heels for you since he was nine. And I quote verbatim, 'he's not a very convenient boy to have a crush on, mum!'."

Astrid had blushed.

"I was ten! I didn't know how… erm… he wasn't…"

"You got warded off because everyone else told you how much of a stuff-up he was." Toffa had said matter-of-factly. "Don't worry about it; he marches to the beat of his own drum. You two are a match made in Valhalla; and at least one of you can sew, even if it is a bit backwards. Now, go find the boy, and watch out for Fangless Daydreams!"

And now she waited. First Valka came up the hill to the house. She took one look at the clothes and nearly fell back down the hill laughing. Astrid glared miserably at her boots. If Hiccup reacted the same way she didn't think she would be able to take it.

Then came Stoick. He barely noticed Astrid, but she heard Valka inside tell Stoick something. The chief's face and enormous beard poked back out the door to see Astrid waiting and then _he _started laughing.

_With all this laughing, _Astrid thought crossly, _there's going to be a landslide._

Finally Hiccup trudged up the hill, Toothless bouncing playfully at his heels like an oversized cat.

"Astrid," he said in surprise.

"I-" _Oh gods, _she thought. "I wanted to give you these,"

She thrust them into his hands and hurtled down the hill so fast she slipped backwards and ploughed furrows into the grass and dirt with the spikes in her skirt. Face burning, she leaped to her feet and only slowed once she was safely in her house.


	9. The Foxes Hunt the Hounds

**Chapter Nine**

**The Foxes Hunt the Hounds**

Astrid finally plucked up the courage to venture outside of her house some hours later, when night had fallen. She wasn't sure what to expect. The village had by now been cleaned up entirely, the few injured treated by Gothi. She ran straight into Hiccup, who was wearing the tunic and the vest, and had a green Terror draped over his shoulders.

"You're wearing it!" Astrid was half-speaking, half-singing. Hiccup grinned.

"I left the spare boot in my house though. I'll let that one slip."

"Oh my gods," Astrid reeled. How had she missed that? How had _Toffa _missed that? They had given him TWO BOOTS. He only had ONE FOOT. "I am so, so sorry!" she stammered, face burning.

"That's fine. Really," he reassured her. "And thank you. You wouldn't believe how darn uncomfortable it is to have those stupid metal shoulder guards on all day. Either they're freezing cold from the snow or they're roasting hot from the sun. I'm guessing you didn't make it yourself?"

"You considered the possibility I _did?_" She made a face. "Hiccup, I can't sew, any more than Mildew can spend a day without complaining."

"Exactly. I rest my case. But enough of that; we need to find the others. Sharpshot just arrived. Drago's on his way."

o~0~O~0~o

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut! Get over here!"

"Idris! Meet us by the well,"

"Gobber! Find Grump and follow us!"

The Night Fury and the Nadder swooped over Berk, their riders calling to the various people below them. Once each of the other riders had been found, they located Stoick and landed in front of him.

"Thor Almighty!" yelped Stoick as Tuffnut and Ruffnut nearly landed on top of him. "Hiccup? What's this about?"

"Drago," Hiccup said promptly, sliding out of the saddle. His prosthetic squeaked as it hit the ground. "I sent out my Terror, Sharpshot, and I taught him to find me when he starts hearing the Bewilderbeast. It's heading this way, and it'll be here around an hour before dawn."

Stoick's eyebrows lowered dangerously.

"You lot get in your armour and find your weapons. I'll organise the village."

He ran towards the village, in the direction of the Big Drums. Hiccup slumped.

"I just took the armour off…" he muttered before straightening.

"Alright. All of you, make sure you've got all your equipment. Weapons, masks if you have them, and Gobber, make sure you have more than one weapon on you. Idris, get your leg straps; there'll be a lot of dangerous flying involved here; we don't want you falling off. Snorri, grab a spare quiver of arrows from the armoury. Astrid, there are some spare axes there too; you might need them."

He fired off commands and Astrid climbed onto Stormfly's back and took off just as Stoick began beating the drums. The villagers all looked around simultaneously, and decades of practice had them trooping towards the square outside the Mead Hall. Snorri and Fiske were right behind her; their sea-dragon wasn't quite as slow as they had made out. Stormfly landed and skidded to a stop, pebbles flying into the air as her tail swung around. Astrid leaped to the ground and shoved the armoury doors open. She zeroed in on the axes; she plucked each of the double-headed ones from the wall before choosing her spare. Snorri had picked out another quiver and a spare bow and Fiske was sliding the tiniest of knives into his boots.

"I know a few tricks," he said, noticing her glance. They returned to their dragons, and Fiske pulled out a length of rope and tied Astrid's two axes to either side of Stormfly's saddle. The dragon shook her wings impatiently as Astrid climbed up the scaly blue leg and wrapped her hands around the leather grips on the saddle. Stormfly lifted off, and the Nadder flapped her way over the village to find Toothless. The dragon was waiting outside Hiccup's house; as Astrid landed heavily he emerged from the house in his armour and mask once again.

"And now we wait;" he told her. The dragons took up positions on the tall spire above Berk, watching carefully through the darkness. Below them; the villagers shifted uneasily. Open combat they could understand; this waiting made them all jumpy and nervous.

Hiccup was shivering as a fine snow began drifting downwards. Astrid couldn't blame him. It was only Stormfly's boiling hot scales that were keeping her warm. Gobber was obsessively changing his prosthetic hand every few moments; there was a squeak as he unscrewed an axe and replaced it with a hammer. Idris was clutching her strange sword-spear weapon tightly, knuckles white, while Valka rattled her staff uneasily on the ground. Even Snotlout was twitchy, jumping every time a snowflake landed on his neck. Hel, even the _twins _were silent. They kept looking at each other nervously, like they knew exactly how this might turn out. Astrid gulped.

In a few hours, any number of the Vikings and dragons gathered here might be dead, completely gone from Midgard forever. She shuddered as, unbidden, an image of a smoking battlefield entered her head, Hiccup sprawled in the middle of it. She shook her head to clear it, but the haunting image remained. She cursed her vivid imagination; it seemed so darn _real_; from the blank look in his eyes to the little trail of blood from the corner of his mouth. She wrapped her arms around herself, rocking slightly in the saddle, and stared at Hiccup.

_He's fine. He'll be fine. He beat this Red Death, as everyone's calling it, surely Drago's no threat to him, right? He'll be fine._

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, still shivering violently.

"What's up with you?"

She cursed silently.

"Pre-battle jitters," she lied brutally. Hiccup looked unconvinced but accepted the explanation. She kept nervously checking every few moments to see if Hiccup was still there. It was stupid, she knew, but that image was terrifying.

Then there was a screech and suddenly Snotlout was thrown off of his Nightmare as it abruptly threw itself skywards and streaked off to the southwest. Snotlout stood up, bemused.

"Hookfang!" he yelled.

"Ha, he can't even keep the dragon under control," Tuffnut laughed, before his head of the Zippleback stiffened and threw him off, Ruffnut landing on top of him.

"What?" Ruffnut yelped as the Zippleback streaked after Hookfang.

Hiccup's eyes widened.

"Oh gods," he said, with a look of horrified discovery. "Everyone, get off the dragons, now!"

Astrid hesitated for a second before retrieving the two axes and jumping off of Stormfly. The Nadder was twitching, and her pupils were uncontrollably dilating and widening. Idris was fumbling with her leg straps and only just got clear of Stormcleaver's back before the Grapple Grounder flew after Hookfang and the Zippleback. The dragon's tail whipped around and Idris cried out as she was knocked over the precipice. Astrid only just managed to grab her and pulled her back onto the solid ground.

"What's going on?" yelped Fiske as Thunder jerked. He leaped to the ground and ducked under the Seashocker's huge flailing wing. Snorri slid down the other wing as the sea-dragon took off. Stormfly let out a pained screech, tail thrashing. Toothless was shaking, roaring like someone was shooting at him and his head was low to the ground. Valka swung free of her own saddle.

"Cloudjumper, stay with us, come on," she pleaded, but it was like the great orange reptile… couldn't hear her?

"Hiccup," Astrid said, comprehension dawning. "Alpha dragons… do they have some sort of control over their dragons?"

Hiccup's prosthetic had jammed in the stirrup, twisted at the wrong angle, but after one tug Hiccup realised and gave it up, opting instead to cover Toothless' eyes.

"Come on, bud. Block it out!"

"HICCUP!" Astrid yelled. He turned to look at her, a tortured expression on his face.

"Yes! They do!" he cried. "You can do it, bud! Don't listen!"

Toothless' ear plates were shivering, and Hiccup bent his elbows to cover them. Behind them, Fishlegs was struggling to control his Gronckle, but it zoomed away after the others, along with Cloudjumper and Gobber's Hotburple. Hiccup tore off the scarf he wore around his neck and tied it around Toothless' eyes.

"Do you trust me, bud?" he asked. The dragon stilled for a moment, then made a soft cooing sound.

"That's it, Toothless!"

Gustav's Nightmare fluttered off, leaving the young teen alone. Stormfly finally stopped struggling and flew dazedly after the other dragons. Astrid turned to Hiccup.

"Why's Toothless not reacting?" she asked, unable to hide the panic in her voice.

"Because I trust him to do what's right. If he follows the Alpha, then he knows I'll die. So he's fighting it,"

And then Astrid saw it. There was a flock of dragons all flying together towards Berk, beneath them a group of boats. There were far fewer boats than she had expected. On top of a gargantuan white, bony beast that Gobber yelled obscenities at was the dark outline of a man, who let out a terrifying roar.

At first Astrid was unable to comprehend the sheer size of the monstrous dragon breaking the surface of the waves around Berk, knocking one of the carved statues into the ocean. She saw the gargantuan tailfin and thought it was a wing; saw a toe and thought it the whole foot. It was only when she looked at the eye that she realised.

"Thor protect us all," she whispered in terror. The Bewilderbeast was the single biggest thing she had seen in her life.

"I'm not Thor," said a voice beside her, "but I'll do my best."

Astrid caught Hiccup's arm and gestured to the stranded dragon riders.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"Take them to fight with the ground fighters. Put Idris with Gothi to help the injured; she'll only join them if she fights. Tell Dad what's happened and for Thor's sake make sure he doesn't come after me!"

And then the blindfolded Night Fury took off, a great gust of wind blowing back Astrid's hair.

"Go," she whispered.

o~0~O~0~o

She skidded straight into Stoick's voluminous stomach, panting.

"What's happened?" the chief asked.

Astrid sucked in breath.

"TheAlphahascontroloverthedragonsandHiccuphastofightitalone!" she said far too fast.

"Slow down, say it again," Stoick commanded.

Astrid panted and repeated herself.

"The Alpha has control over the dragons and Hiccup has to fight it alone!"

Stoick paled.

"Odin help us," he whispered. The boats drew close and almost a hundred Vikings poured over the sides. Above them, Drago leaped from his dragon onto the Bewilderbeast's head, and immediately the dragon he had been riding zeroed in on Gobber. The smith roared a battle cry and swung his hammer into its head. Astrid had just enough time to see Gobber tumble as the dragon snapped at him, and hear the sharp crack of bone, then the horde of Vikings was on them, and Astrid lost one axe within seconds. Hefting the one Hiccup had made for her, she yelled furiously and swung it into another Viking's chest. Above them, Hiccup was looping circles around the Bewilderbeast, Toothless firing jets of plasma at its head. The huge dragon roared in fury, a jet of ice pouring from its gaping maw. It missed and fell upon the Vikings below, and Astrid gasped as she saw Mulch frozen into the ice.

Stoick was fighting like a demon; his hammer in one hand and his sword in the other. A Viking came at him from behind; without hesitation Astrid hurled her axe at him and it took him high in the chest. She dashed over and pulled it free. Stoick grunted thanks and brought his hammer down on another opponent.

Astrid heard Snorri let out a wordless cry of fear, and her vision tunnelled; Fiske fell backwards holding his arm, and his opponent leered and lifted his spiked mace high. Astrid let out a feral roar and, using her current opponent exactly like she had used the wooden barriers in dragon training, flipped overhead and brought her axe down on the man's head. Fiske stood up shakily, holding his left arm, which hung at an awkward angle.

"Get to Idris and Gothi," she ordered, and fell back into the fray. Above, the Bewilderbeast let out another roar and huge spikes of ice broke apart buildings. Stoick was so close that he had to tear off his fur cloak, the ends of which had become frozen in the glacier. Astrid looked up. Hiccup had dodged the last blast by the skin of his teeth, and he abruptly switched direction, swooping back towards Drago on the Bewilderbeast's head. He suddenly slid free of the saddle, and for a moment Astrid's breath caught in her throat before she realised that he had tied a long rope to Toothless' saddle. Astrid was so fixated on the fight she almost lost a hand to a huge swordsman in front of her. She smacked him with her axe and ducked out of the way, still watching the skies above. The Night Fury was gliding, the tailfin locked, and Hiccup had drawn Inferno. Before Drago could react, Hiccup clicked the end and a huge cloud of Zippleback gas burst out. Toothless then shot downwards, away from the cloud. Hiccup let go of the rope and for one heart-stopping moment he was motionless in mid air, then he sparked the gas and dropped three feet, landing neatly in Toothless' saddle and clicking his peg back in. The Zippleback gas exploded violently, and Astrid flinched and nearly dropped her axe. Drago was thrown from the Bewilderbeast's head, and he crashed onto the huge right tusk. His left arm seemed to suddenly fall off, and bounced off the tusk, crashing into several of Drago's men below.

Astrid was suddenly thrown backwards, her axe torn from her grip, and she cursed her inattentiveness. A hulking Viking was leaning over her, a hammer in his beefy hand, and she rolled to the side as he brought the hammer down. She tried to kick his leg out from under him, but it was planted solidly on the ground. He lifted the hammer again and Astrid squeezed her eyes shut.

_Great Odin's ghost, this is it, _she thought. _I'll watch over Hiccup even if the Valkyries have to drag me away by the ankle._

And then she heard the man gurgle, and opened her eyes to see a bright blade protruding from his ribs. It was withdrawn and the man fell backwards.

Toffa the seamstress grinned.

"Don't let your boyfriend down," she said, holding out a hand. "Getting yourself killed would make him mad. But who am I to intervene when the needles of Fate start clicking?"

Astrid took Toffa's hand and pulled herself to her feet.

"'Needles of Fate'?" she questioned, retrieving her axe. Toffa shrugged.

"You can't expect me to come up with brilliance all the time," the seamstress said. "Now get back in that fight!"

And so she did. Astrid swung her axe at another Viking, one of the few left standing. And when he dropped she had a perfectly clear view of Drago hurling his bull hook like a javelin and taking Hiccup high in the chest.


	10. So Say We All

**AN: I was looking at Chapter Nine, and like, 20/20 hindsight and all, thought 'Dang, son, that's a freaking evil cliffie. But if I'd actually uploaded the character art like I meant to, no-one would have freaked at all. (His leather jerkin is really thick, like Valka's breastplate thing.) This chapter's pretty short; sorry if it's TOO short. But there's an epilogue to be uploaded, then ****_Dragonheart_**** is done. Party with me; I actually finished it! Like, I finished the story without a three-year interval while I lost interest in it! And even better- I'M WRITING A SEQUEL! You probably don't give a ****_crappa di cack cack, _****but I am so delighted that I actually managed to complete the story. The sequel is set three years later.**** I hope you enjoy it; I've decided that I will end up giving Toffa some Angela quotes (You'd be surprised how many sorcerers have died after being bitten by mad rabbits!) because she really does seem to be quite the character. I'm thinking Toffa will have a slightly more influential part in the sequel; but I might change my mind entirely between now and then. The sequel, by the way, will be called ****_Firesoul. _****Anyway, I hope I didn't disappoint with the ending! If I did, feel free to tell me how much of a blockhead I am, how badly my blockheadedness has affected the story and what kind of ancestry I must have had to be such a monumental blockhead.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

**So Say We All**

Astrid's cry of horror tore from her lungs, emerging as an animalistic howl of grief. Stoick's face mirrored her feelings; he felled the last enemy Viking and shouted Hiccup's name to the skies. The boy crashed into the snowy ground, and lay there limply.

And sat up a moment later.

"That," he said, pulling the bull hook free, "was dirty. But next time, try not to hit the only spot where your target's wearing armour,"

He stood up, and Astrid noted how his right arm seemed to be dislocated. Toothless swooped towards his rider, and Hiccup turned to look at Drago. Then the Bewilderbeast let out another roar and a jet of ice, and Astrid screamed in horror as Hiccup and Toothless were both enveloped in the glacier. Stoick let out an inhuman bellow of rage and grief, and hurled his hammer at Drago with such force that it actually made it to the man on the titanic spar of ivory without falling back to earth. Drago beat it aside carelessly and strode to the end of the tusk, shouting to the crowded Berkians, who were frozen in horror.

"See how easily your hero fell!" Bludvist yelled to the Vikings. Valka stumbled forwards and placed her hands on the ice, peering into the almost opaque blue. Astrid joined her and looked hopelessly. She could barely see Toothless' dark outline, highlighted by… light? She looked closer. Down his back, Toothless was glowing like the sun. She could faintly hear a whistling noise.

Comprehension hit like a hammer.

"Get down!" she hollered and hit the snow. Just in time; the ice exploded outwards with the force of a lightning strike. Toothless spread his wings majestically to reveal Hiccup, still standing strong. Toothless leaped agilely up onto an ice spire and roared furiously.

"Thor almighty," Valka said, getting back to her feet and taking off her mask.

Hiccup looked astonished. He too removed his flying mask. "He's challenging the Alpha!"

"To protect you!" Valka finished. Her face was alight with joy. Stoick stumbled over and watched as Toothless let out a blast of fire like none Astrid had ever seen. It exploded with the force of Thor's hammer and the Bewilderbeast howled. Toothless fired again, not giving the huge Alpha the chance to recover. Then a few of the hundreds of dragons gathered behind it seemed to come back to themselves. They joined Toothless, Stormfly among them, and added their flames to the barrage assaulting the Bewilderbeast. The more they blasted the dragon with flame, the more it seemed to lose control of its subjects. Soon all of the dragons were flying behind Toothless. Hiccup ran forward and slid into the saddle.

"THIS is what it means to earn a dragon's loyalty!" he yelled. There was the high-pitched whistling sound, and a final bolt of plasma flew at the Bewilderbeast. It screeched as its left tusk was blown clean off, and the huge ivory length crashed into the waves below. The Bewilderbeast paused and moved its titanic foot to its breastbone, almost like… a surrender? Then it turned and dove into the ocean, Drago still clinging to the remaining tusk. For a moment there was a shocked silence, then a roar of triumph from the surrounding Vikings. Hiccup turned back to the crowds and Toothless jumped from the ice spire to the ground. Stoick elbowed his way forwards and placed a trembling hand on Toothless' snout.

"Thank you for saving my son," he quavered. Hiccup slid off of the saddle and was instantly swamped by his father's enormous arms. When he was released, Astrid darted forward and kissed him.

"You won," she whispered blissfully to him. He smiled back.

Valka and Stoick looked at each other and shrugged, as if to say, 'Well, they seem to love each other, so…'

Astrid would have blushed, but there were too many people watching. Then Cloudjumper stepped forwards in front of Toothless and bowed his huge scaly head. The other dragons followed his lead, and Toothless raised his head proudly and, Astrid thought, a little smugly.

"He's just like you," Astrid told Hiccup. He looked at her.

"Well, hopefully I won't become chief for a few years yet," he responded, placing an arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on his curved shoulder plate. Then she accidentally elbowed his injured arm and he gasped in pain.

"Sorry," Astrid said, and gently prodded his shoulder, inspecting it. "You've dislocated it," she said. "I can put it back in, but it might hurt,"

"Do it now while I'm still numb from the freezing cold ice," he told her. She nodded, wrapping her fingers around his to form a fist and twisting his arm outwards. He sucked in his breath sharply and let out a pained word in the strange language, which Astrid ignored.

"Sorry," she said, leaning gently on him and thanking the gods he was alive. The terrifying image in her head dissipated and she blew the last wisps of it away.

"No time for messing around," Stoick said suddenly. "We have a lot of cleaning up to do."

"But first…" Valka started. Stoick nodded, and the woman stepped forwards and planted her staff in the ground, then grabbed Hiccup's hand and held it high.

"HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK THE THIRD, HERO OF BERK!" she bellowed proudly. Hiccup blushed a little as the Vikings cheered wildly.

"So you say," he said shyly. The whole island suddenly yelled the response.

"SO SAY WE ALL!"


	11. Epilogue

**_Thankee, mi frieundlees. _****This has been an adventure for all of us, me included. And now, we reach the end. The story will continue in ****_Firesoul. _****And, finally,****_ thississa bigga fullstop. _**

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><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

Three weeks later, all was calm as Astrid contemplated that victorious morning.

Flames had licked the horizon as Drago's boats sailed out on the waves. Drago's dead had been laid out on the decks and the boats lit from afar. No matter how dishonourably they had fought, they still deserved a proper Viking funeral. Mulch had been given a hero's send-off; Bucket had led the archers and spoken the traditional words. It was the most serious she had ever heard the man sound.

She suddenly sat up straight. There was something she had forgotten to do that day. She left the house, passing her snoozing Nadder, and located Toffa's house. She knocked and cautiously stepped inside.

There was a fire blazing in the hearth, and Toffa was seated in front of it, sewing together a large pelt for a cloak. Astrid cleared her throat and the seamstress turned around.

"Astrid! How nice to see you! You haven't gotten Mad Yak Disease since I last saw you, have you?"

There was no response to that. Toffa grinned.

"I thought not. Still, you have to check. Sit down!"

Astrid sat gingerly beside Toffa.

"I forgot to say thank you," she said. "You saved me that day. Thank you for helping me."

The seamstress set down the furs.

"You know, something that everyone seems to have forgotten is that Gothi is my great-aunt."

"What has that got to do with anything?" Astrid asked, in spite of herself.

"She once told me, when I was a little girl, that there would come a day where a hiccup of a child would be brought to me to help mother after his own mother was lost to him. She said that this boy would play an important part in Berk's fate and that I had to do anything I could to help him and keep him safe. At the time, I was thinking something along the lines of _Ew, being a mother to someone else's kid? _But all things considered, I think she was right. Of course, she always is, which makes for very boring bets with her. Gave them up years ago. Hiccup is a remarkable boy, and he wouldn't have given his heart to you unless he was confident you were a kindred spirit, somewhere on the inside. So who would I be kidding if I told myself you weren't just as important as he was? You'll be known for many, many years into the future, Astrid. We only get one life. You've been lucky enough to be graced with a wondrous fate. Make sure you fulfil it."

Astrid nodded, unsure of what to say, and left the house. When she was almost back to her house she looked down and realised there was a golden length of string around her wrist. She wasn't quite sure how it had gotten there, but when she looked at it, it sent a tingle up her spine. She looked towards the skies.

_We only get one life._ Toffa had said.

_So I'm going to live it, _she thought. Ignoring the rapidly setting sun, she walked up the hill to Hiccup's house and knocked on the door. He opened it and smiled.

"Wait a second," he said, and vanished from sight before returning with what appeared to be a carved piece of ice on a string.

"It's Bewilderbeast ice," he said. "It never melts, unless a dragon breathes fire directly on it."

Astrid stepped inside and wrapped her arms around the young Viking.

"I have a present for you too," she said, and closed the door behind her.


	12. Sequel Up!

**Hiya! Just realised that I forgot to let you all know that ****_Firesoul _****has been published... several chapters of it... so better late than never. See you in ****_Firesoul!_**


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